Or Something
by SuperGirl06
Summary: Galinda and Elphaba's relationship starts to change as they become friends...or something. Gelphie warning, Fiyeraba, Fiylinda? : sitings as well. Later chapters have been redone a bit
1. Brilliant Idea

**Disclaimer:**

I own nothing of the wonderful world that makes Wicked, nor will I try and claim to.

**Chapter 1**

As she sat by the pond, Galinda listened to Shenshen and Pfannee argue over which boy they were going to the pubs with later that evening.

"Avaric and I would look so perfect together" Shenshen said "he's just a little taller than I am and his eyes will match what dress I'm wearing!"

"You can change your dress to match Boq's eyes! I all ready said I was going with Avaric when they invited us." Pfannee quipped.

"You did not! Galinda did you hear her say anything about going with Avaric?"

Galinda continued to stare and the piece of grass she had been twirling around on her finger.

"Will you look at her? She's already picturing Fiyero's ring around her finger", Shenshen said while waving her hands in front of Galinda's face.

Snapping out of her daze Galinda looked up and her two friends who were stifling their laughter.

"What?" Galinda said.

"We were just wondering if you were going to let Fiyero propose to you before you called the catering company," said Pfannee.

"I was not thinking about Fiyero thank you very much. Unlike the two of you, I do think about things other than boys, "Galinda said with a pout. "I was just wondering what makes the grass here so much greener than at home."

Shenshen looked at Galinda as though she had sprouted another head out of her pink sundress. "Galinda are you feeling well? I think you've been hanging out with your horrid, boring roommate too much. Her crazy thoughts are sneaking into your head. You're still not talking to her, right? Oz knows what that will do to your reputation if she actually confronts you in public. It'd be best to keep her at a distance all together."

"Of course we're not best friends or anything. We're complete opposites, what sense would that make," Galinda said turning her attention back to the blade of green staring at its deep shade of green. "But as for Avaric and Boq, Pfannee did say she wanted to be escorted by Avaric while you were staring in at the truffles at the sweet shop."

"Told you." Shenshen said as she stuck her tongue out at Pfannee.

"But Shenshen also waited until you were distracted to say something" Galinda admitted.

"You cheat!" Pfannee shouted at Shenshen as she threw some grass at her.

The three girls got up from their resting place on the grass and started to make their way back to Shiz campus. Galinda walked along the dirt path trying to block out the other two girls continued argument with her own thoughts.

What would Shenshen and Pfannee do if they found out her and Elphie, that's what she called her now, Elphie, were growing to become close acquaintances in the privacy of their dorm room? Galinda smiled to herself thinking about how she and Elphie started talking one night a few weeks ago after she got back from a party at the boy's campus.

XX

Galinda walked in to find Elphie reading in their dark room by the fire. Galinda stumbled a bit into the room, trying to recover quickly before she broke something in the dark because knowing her luck it would be something of hers.

"Why wouldn't you light some lamps in this place if you're up still? I could break my neck trying to get through here."

Elphaba didn't even look up from her book when she replied, "You'll notice the only reason you'll hurt yourself is because you left your side of the room a mess when you went through it like a tornado earlier trying to get ready for tonight's festivities. If you cared about your precious neck, you would think about the fact you'll probably be coming home in the dark for future reference and the things on the floor might hinder your graceful entrance."

"Yet another typical response from the Mean Green. Don't you ever get tired of being so rude and hateful to everyone in your life?" Galinda asked Elphaba as she went about kicking the dismissed outfits from her earlier try on session into a pile in the middle of her pink fluffy rug that covered her side of the room. "It might be a nice change for you to just be happy or nice. You could actually make friends or something."

"I'm generally not 'rude and hateful' as you put it. I am honest and most people interpret that incorrectly, present company included. I don't plan on going around telling people what they want to hear just so they will be my friend…or something." Elphaba stated as she turned the page of her book pushing her glasses up further onto her face mimicking Galinda's high pitch voice when saying 'something'.

Galinda sighed and went into the bathroom to change into her nightgown and wash up for the evening. Elphaba thought she had gotten the best of her usually persistent roommate and decided to put her book up and get ready for bed as well. Since she didn't need to use the bathroom to "wash up" she started her process in the bedroom changing into her black night slip.

Galinda came out of the bathroom with her hair partly wrapped in pink curlers on top of her head with her toothbrush hanging out of her mouth as she did a roller up.

"You know there is a difference being….Oh my…sorry Elphie" Galinda turned quickly as she caught a glimpse of her roommate before she was fully changed.

"Don't worry, you're fine" Elphaba said with a greener tint to her cheeks as she finished sliding her slip on and crawling into bed. "And what did you just call me?"

"What?" Galinda came back out with her eyes shielded this time, just in case.

"You can put your hand down silly girl. I'm all ready in bed, fully covered from innocent eyes. And you called me something, what was it?" Elphaba said as she settled herself into bed, the greener tint still in her cheeks.

Galinda brought her hand down and went over to her bed. "Sorry about that again, I really didn't see much so need to be embarrassed. And I called you Elphie, I think it would be a nice nickname for you, if you were to have a nickname. It's less formal, more fun. But anyway, I was going to say that there is a difference between someone who's doing nothing but being honest and what you are. I mean, you are honest but it's only about negative things, never positive or good things. That's how you come off as mean. You draw attention to the bad and let the good go by without even an acknowledgement."

Elphaba stared at the ceiling thinking about what the blonde girl had said. At first she was shocked that such a thought had even entered the other girl's head as Elphaba had assumed she only used it to bounce her silky blonde hair around and support the occasional hat but then she thought about the truth of her statement.

As Galinda laid there waiting awhile for Elphaba's usual Mean Green comment to come whirling back at her, she thought maybe Elphaba had just fallen asleep, ignoring their conversation until she heard a quiet voice from the other side of the room.

"You may have a point about my honesty but I will have to think more on the 'Elphie' part. Good night Galinda."

"Good night Elphi…Elphaba. Fresh dreams," Galinda answered a little stunned.

XX

As she made her way into the campus, the silly smile stayed on her face thinking about all the other conversations the two had had since that first night. Galinda waved goodbye to her two friends who were still bickering. She started thinking about all she needed to do to get ready for the evening. Suddenly a great idea popped into her head and Galinda started to rush to her room not being able to contain the excitement her brilliance had brought her.

Running into the room Galinda tossed her hat off and looked about the room for Elphaba. Not finding her in their bedroom she walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the closed door.

"Elphie, are you in there?"

"No, it's some stranger holing themselves up in our bathroom because they can't get enough of your lilac lotion."

"That's cute Elphie, very cute. Sarcasm is very becoming on you as always. I need to talk to you when you come out. It's very important so don't dawdle," Galinda said rolling her eyes on the other side of the door. She bounced around the room straightening different things as she waited for her emerald roommate to make her entrance. She had to approach her roommate in a way that she couldn't refuse the idea. It may take a little poking and prodding but luckily those were things Galinda was good at. She let out a little evil chuckle at the thought of holding all Elphaba's text books hostage until she went along with the idea.

Elphaba strolled into the room trying to go unnoticed for as long as she could as Galinda's back was turned.

"Anytime today Elphie!" Galinda shouted over her shoulder. As she turned around she ran smack into a proud, smiling Elphaba.

"Oh my Oz you scared me! Why would you sneak up on someone like that you mean thing," Galinda asked swatting at her roommate's arm.

"Just practicing," Elphaba said turning around and going over to her bed to sit down "I really didn't think I'd made it all the way over to you. You never know when you'll need to use the element of surprise."

"That right there, Elphaba, it's just scary that you would think like that. Just don't do it to me again and especially not at night. I'll have to practice my ninja chop skills on you," Galinda slid next to Elphaba, still giving her enough personal space. The two weren't that close yet. "But enough with such unpleseantries, I have great news for you!"

"Do you really? Or is this news that would make you excited and me want to run in the opposite direction? Like Follies and Raines having a dress sale or free makeovers at Wittlies this weekend."

"No, no of course you'll be excited. It's right up there with Barneb's Bookstore having a sale. You get to come with the group to the pubs tonight! The boys will be there and of course ShenShen and Pfannee will be there and a few…"

Elphaba sat and watched Galinda announce the other attendees with her left eyebrow quirked up wondering if the blond was even listening to herself.

"…and we won't be out too late even though it is a weekend evening. I know how worried you are about staying out late. But what we will have to worry about is what you're going to wear. Do you have any suggestions?" Galinda finished her announcement to Elphaba looking up at her with hopeful eyes and the biggest 'Pleeeaaase?' smile she could spread on her face.

"Galinda, I…why in the world would you think…" Elphaba paused for a moment looking into her friend's eyes for a second. In them she saw sincerity, hopefulness and even a little nervousness. She tried to think back to the last time someone had invited her to go out with them. Times with Nessarose and Nanny came to mind but nothing from people she would consider 'friends' and no one looked like this when they asked her. Could anyone turn down this perky thing? It would be like someone harming a cute puppy. Her parents must have been put through Hell and back trying to refuse their little girl something.

"…why would you think it would be hard to find something for me to wear?" Elphaba finished, not allowing herself to look at Galinda while she answered.

"Now Elphie I don't want to hear that kind of an attitude from you…" Galinda paused from her prepared argument, letting Elphaba's words register.

The next few moments were a blur of squeals, hugs and bouncing on the bed. Elphaba tried to keep from smiling but a smirk crept across her face as her friend reacted to her unexpected give in.

"Oh Elphie you are going to have so much fun! _We_ are going to have so much fun! And like I said we don't have to stay long at all. In fact you can decide how long we stay tonight. You want to leave we'll leave, just like that," Galinda said emphasizing her statement with a snap of her fingers.

"You make it sound as though I'm your date tonight and not Fiyero Tiggular that Winkie prince who's reputation is _so_ scandalacious," Elphaba said while fanning herself and rolling her eyes with a smile.

"Laugh now Elphie but get it _all_ out now because tonight my friends will be your friends and I'm sure they'd have a few digs they could make at you that you would not appreciate," Galinda warned.

"Yes, yes, I will be on my best behavior," Elphaba told Galinda.

Elphaba sat and thought about what she had actually just agreed to. An evening of drinking and debauchery with some of the most popular kids in her year at Shiz University, all of whom have probably talked badly about her or made fun of her one way or another.

"Galinda, are you sure about this?" Elphaba said showing the first sign of nervousness and regret Galinda had even seen from the girl.

"Elphie, I know this seems really scary to you right now but it'll be fun. I must admit I didn't expect you to accept defeat so early in the discussion but it will be good for you. When was the last time you cut loose and had fun since you've been at Shiz? And no, going to the library for your 'pleasure reading' does not count. It'll be good for you to meet these people and for them to meet you."

"But they don't like me Galinda. Not one of them."

"That's where you're wrong Elphie. I know one of them is growing quite fond of you whether you like it or not. Now act like the big girl I know you can be and show me what you think you are going to wear tonight."

"Oh, now you're mocking me? You need to work on your persuasion tactics."

"I'll work on that right after I master my ninja chop," Galinda replied giggling while making a chopping action at Elphaba's waist as they headed over to Elphaba's closet.

After going through dozens of outfits that looked remarkably similar, Galinda settled on a sleeveless black dress that fit less like a potato sack on Elphaba than the others.

"Somewhere in this world Elphie there is a store missing its garbage bags because you've stolen them all to play them off as dresses. And I know it's not because you can't afford other things, I've seen the stash of money you put away every week from your allowance. You have a gorgeous figure; why not show it off a little bit once in awhile? Now once we're done with this I'll fix your hair." Galinda asked while she finished pulling at different areas of Elphaba's dress to fit a little better.

"Well at least now I feel validated in my paranoia thinking you were watching me while you were supposedly studying. That money is going to be what gets me through life after Shiz. It'll be better used on food and shelter than designers and name brand products," Elphaba said as she sat so Galinda could brush her hair.

Galinda sighed at such talk. "So serious. I think you need tonight more than you realize Elphaba. And remember if you feel uncomfortable or you don't like how something is going and you don't think you can deal with it, come and get me and we'll leave that second. I won't be too far from you; I'll make sure of it."

"I'm sure you're right that I'll be fine Galinda. It might just take a little bit for me to get used to the situation. But as you stated, I am a big girl. I think I can handle myself. But I did want to say thank you for asking me."

Galinda stopped fixing her hair and turned to face Elphaba. She looked at the girl with a beaming smile as she noticed a slight change in her roommate. Not being able to pinpoint it at that moment she gave her a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek.

"You're very welcome Elphie. And just so you know, I hope it's not our last outing together." Galinda released Elphaba, flashed her one last bright smile and grabbed her bag and keys. "Well, you look great. Do you feel ready?"

Elphaba walked over to Galinda's side of the room and looked at the girl in the mirror. There she was, the green, gangly girl who everyone knew as a bookworm that had a smart comment back for every one tossed her way, but now there was something different in the girl she saw. Her flowing dark hair down around her shoulders, no glasses on her face, a dress that showed she actually did have a pair of hips and a borrowed pair of black shoes that pushed her up an inch higher and made her stand a bit straighter while pulling her shoulders back. She felt that the girl she was looking at might actually be able to last the night and have a little fun in the process.

'With a little help of course', Elphaba thought as she caught the reflection of her roommate fiddling with some things in her bag. And maybe she would return home with some new friends…or something. At that thought, she looked back to her awaiting escort with one of the biggest smiles she could muster.

"Yeah, I think I'm ready. I think I'm ready for this."


	2. The Wager and The Dare

**Disclaimer:** Still don't own any of the characters or locations that make up Wicked and its world.

**Author's Note:** I hope this chapter will pull a few more people in. Be aware it's a little longer and covers more ground. I do accept any forms of review so don't hesitate to let me know what you think.

**Chapter 2**

Elphaba and Galinda waited by the University gates for the other girls. After a few minutes they saw ShenShen and Pfannee making their way up to the gates.

"Galinda are you ready for some more Topsy Turvy wine? I hear it's on special. Oh who do we have…" ShenShen stopped after seeing who was standing behind Galinda.

"Is everything all right?" Pfannee asked.

"Of course it is! Girls, you remember Elphaba?" Galinda said trying not to make a big deal about the girl coming along. "She'll be accompanying us tonight to the pubs. We can't have her studying all the time, agreed?"

ShenShen looked like a fish for a second while she thought on her response. "Oh…of course not, right Pfannee?"

"Sure thing, right," Pfannee agreed thinking there had to be more to the situation than was let on. Maybe Galinda was going to play a joke on her roommate at the pub?

Neither girl made a move for the gate so Galinda turned and led the group out down the path towards town. Elphaba followed Galinda quickly leaving space between them and ShenShen and Pfannee.

"Are you still sure about this Ga…" Elphaba started to ask.

"Elphie now is not the time to worry about everyone else. Do you want to go through with tonight? Because I know I want you to come with us. That is why I asked you. I think you will have a good time and I for one am looking forward to seeing that." Galinda answered her as if already knowing Elphaba's concerns, showing no lack of confidence in her actions.

"Okay, you're right. I didn't let you spend all that time on my hair and going through my closet and personal things for nothing," Elphaba smiled and said.

"That's my Elphie. Now chin up and try not to drag your heels when you walk in those shoes. They are still in this season and I'd like to be able to wear them again," Galinda smiled and offered her arm to Elphaba who gladly took it.

The group made their way to the pub with no further problems. When they reached the Silver Horse Inn they walked in and were greeted by a loud cheer from a corner table of guys who looked like they had already been partaking in the festivities.

A munchkin boy ran up to the group of girls and offered his arm to Galinda.

"Good evening ladies! Miss Galinda, may I escort you to the table?" Boq asked bowing a little to the blonde.

"Why thank you Boq, but I have a perfectly capable escort right here," Galinda said raising her arm to show Elphaba's still linked with hers. "But I'm sure one of these fine ladies behind us will gladly accept your generous offer."

Boq looked sad only for a moment as the green girl and Galinda started walking to the table. He offered his arm to Pfannee who accepted it with as big of a smile she could muster, which was no where near the size of ShenShen's who took that to mean Avaric was hers tonight.

As Galinda and Elphaba approached the group of guys the noise died down with the interruption of a chuckle now and then. Fiyero stood from the back of the group and made his way to Galinda.

"Good evening Miss Galinda," Fiyero brought his hand out to take Galinda's. Galinda stayed linked with Elphaba but offered her other hand for Fiyero to kiss.

"May I offer you a seat?" Fiyero asked motioning for the boys behind him to make room at the table dimly lit by a nearby fireplace.

"Yes, we would both like to sit thank you. You remember my roommate, Elphaba?" Galinda said making it clear that she would not be letting her roommate go so soon.

"Of course, Miss Elphaba! You are a hard one to forget," Fiyero said with a smile again offering his hand out.

Elphaba paused a second while she tried to decide whether Fiyero had made fun of her or not. She didn't get to pause very long as she felt a squeeze on her arm from Galinda. She offered her hand to Fiyero and made herself smile as he kissed it.

Fiyero couldn't tell if the girl had actually smiled or bared her teeth at him. Releasing her hand he gave her a quick, hesitant smile as he usually did not have that affect on women.

The two girls shifted around the table as Avaric went over and offered his arm to ShenShen, even though she had already made it to the table unescorted from the door.

"How about a round of drinks for you ladies? What shall I tell the waitress you'll be drinking this evening?" Avaric asked as ShenShen settled into a chair further away from Galinda and Elphaba.

"How about the Gangle Goose red wine? Last time we had that we had a ball!" Pfannee said. "Galinda started serenading that old cook last time. Why did you say you were again? Thanking him for his wonderful work on the nut bread he sent to our table?"

Galinda got a little redder, "No, it was because we were from around the same area or something. I don't really remember. But yes I think that wine selection will be fine, thank you. Is that all right with you Elphie?"

Elphaba looked up at her with her eyebrows raised. Galinda had let her nickname slip in public. "Yes, that'll be fine I'm sure."

"Do you do much drinking in Munchkinland, Elphie, was it?" Fiyero picked up the conversation.

"Generally we made our own drinks instead of importing them as we find other lands to make their drinks weaker, but yes, we do drink. I'm sure Boq can attest to that." Elphaba said trying to ignore the use of the nickname.

Fiyero smiled at Elphaba's attempt at trying to direct his attention elsewhere. He didn't have anything against the green girl; in fact he thought she looked very nice tonight. No where near as intimidating as when he had seen her in between classes walking around campus with Galinda. The girl usually made no eye contact and when she did it was to glare at someone who had wandered in her path. He had noticed Galinda had stopped talking badly about her awhile ago so he had assumed the girls had settled their differences.

"I see. Well I know Boq here does not have the highest of tolerances so that leads me to believe we'll have to keep an eye on you tonight," Fiyero said watching for a reaction from Elphaba.

"I don't think that will be necessary. It may serve you better to set up an escort home now if you are planning on matching me drink for drink," Elphaba said keeping her expressions to a minimum not wanting to give the arrogant seeming boy any satisfaction.

Fiyero went from a look of shock to rolling laughter. "That does sound like a challenge to me! And here I thought tonight was going to be uneventful. You're on Elphaba. Should we place a wager on it?"

"No, I think you both should just let this be a bragging rights thing," Galinda answered a little shocked at Fiyero and even more so at Elphaba. She never anticipated something like this happening by taking her shy roommate out for once. Hopefully keeping the wagers low would help keep this competition to a minimum.

"Well we should make it a little fairer. You're drinking the house brew, right? I'll drink two glasses of wine to one of your mugs." Elphaba said ignoring Galinda kicking her under the table.

"Well, I wouldn't want you trying to take it easy on me. We'll just match drink for drink. And is bragging rights enough for you?" Fiyero asked amazed at the brazen comments from this girl, a side he never would have dreamed of seeing from any girl he interacted with.

The first round of drinks arrived at the table. Elphaba was quick to grab her glass to make sure she didn't get spilled on by any of the others.

"Well, what did you have in mind? Money? A prize?" Elphaba asked smiling at Fiyero. She was finally warming up to the boy and began thinking he was not trying to embarrass her in any way as she originally thought.

"How about a dare? The winner gets to dare the loser to do anything they desire. No exceptions." Fiyero said taking a drink of his brew.

"Well, I'll accept those terms on the fact that I take you to be a gentleman Fiyero Tiggular from the impression I get from Miss Galinda here, and you would not make me do anything that would tarnish my reputation as a lady," Elphaba answered. She raised her glass to toast Fiyero and to signal acceptance of the terms.

The group spread out throughout the bar. Boq became the official drink tracker as he had stated earlier that he was taking it easy tonight as he didn't feel well. Galinda thought the illness came on suddenly when both ShenShen and Pfannee flocked to Avaric's side as he told stories of his summer at home hunting and spending time at his summer cottage.

Elphaba met the drinking challenge head on. She finished her first glass of wine within ten minutes and went quickly onto the next, informing the bartender to keep some glasses poured for her so not to waste her time. Galinda giggled as she sipped her wine and watched her roommate. Galinda smiled as she saw Elphaba make her way over to Boq and pull him back over to the group engaging him in a conversation about his home and family. Suddenly as Galinda was rolling the stem of her glass between her fingers she felt someone slide up behind her and move her hair to kiss the back of her neck.

"Oh my Oz!" Galinda yelled fighting to keep grasp of her drink.

"Sorry baby girl, I didn't mean to scare you. I just hadn't spent much time with you tonight. I didn't want you to feel left out since I seem to have your guest occupied," Fiyero answered smiling at Galinda wrapping his arm around her.

"Fiyero," Galinda giggled while pushing his arm away but turning toward him keeping a hold of his hand. "It was very nice of you to get her included in the evening right off the bat. She was really worried about how this evening would go. I know, she doesn't see to be the worrying type, but she was apprehensive to say the least."

"Don't thank me too much. She was the one who initiated the challenge; I just set up the terms. I never would have pegged Elphie for a drinker but she is definitely holding her own. In fact, she may be beating me now," Fiyero said as they both watched Elphaba go back up to the bar making conversation with a few of the patrons sitting at the stools along the bar as she waited for her next wine glass.

"I can't believe she's letting you call her Elphie. I barely even got that by her! Unfortunately, I didn't even think about it when I said that aloud but I'm sure she had to keep herself from throwing daggers my way, "Galinda said shaking her head, "I'm so glad she seems to be fitting in right now. Look, even ShenShen and Pfannee are talking with her."

The two watched as Elphaba, ShenShen and Pfannee surrounded the music box and made some song selections. The girls kept laughing at each other's choices and swatting offending hands away as they tried to change each other's songs.

Galinda released Fiyero's hand and walked over to the music box. She grabbed Elphaba's arm and pulled her from the other girls as a fast, popular song came on over the speakers.

"Dance with me," Galinda said swaying her hips to the beat of the song.

"I should tell you that I only like listening to music, not really dancing to it," Elphaba answered as she focused on the hips moving side to side in front of her.

"Well it's the least you could do for me since you've practically ditched me for the evening for some cheap alcohol," Galinda said pouting her bottom lip out. She took Elphaba's hand, pulling her to the music so she at least shifted with rhythm if she wouldn't dance with her.

Elphaba finished her swallow of wine and set down the empty glass on a near by table. After doing this she swung Galinda out forcing her to spin under Elphaba's raised arm. Galinda was caught by surprise and laughed as she almost fell but kept her balance.

"Miss Elphaba I think you lied to me. That was not the move of a novice," Galinda eyed her roommate with even more respect. It appeared Elphaba was full of surprises.

Elphaba brought Galinda into a hug and whispered into her ear, "I said I didn't like to dance Galinda my dear, not that I couldn't." She twirled Galinda out and did a wiggle with her butt quickly before anyone else could notice.

"Well now I know that the alcohol is at least getting you," Galinda laughed and flushed, "What are you on now any way?"

"Well according to Boq's arm, my new drink will be six. Two per hour is my average right now. I may need to up it to three though because Fiyero isn't showing any signs of slowing down."

"Leave it to you to complicate drinking with averages and formulas Elphie. You still need to be careful, no matter how many math problems you think you can do successfully right now. I'll not spend my evening listening to you fill our toilet with regret," Galinda said raising her eyebrows at an innocent seeming Elphaba. Looking at her roommate trying to keep back a grin she knew she couldn't intimidate the girl so why bother trying. "I am very proud of you for taking some risks tonight. I've seen you talk to several different people with no problems arising. Just don't get too friendly with the bar regulars, trust me," Galinda added with a shiver and a look of mock disgust.

Elphaba smiled at her roommate. The girl did feel a lot more comfortable than she expected to be with this group. Why was that? It couldn't be all because of the effect the drink had on her. She looked back over to Galinda who had not released her hand yet and was still swinging it while smiling brightly at her. It finally dawned on her why she felt confident. She had Galinda to back her up. If she ran into a problem she did not doubt for a second that Galinda would come to her rescue. While she didn't expect her to start any brawls or anything, this little, blonde, perky thing was what kept her comfortable.

Elphaba felt like she should say something to the girl but then she felt someone's breathe on the back of her neck. "If you dance much longer without a drink you're going to get lapped," Fiyero said.

Elphaba let go of Galinda's hand and turned to face a grinning, cocky Fiyero.

"For your information Mister Tiggular, I am actually two glasses ahead of you. Ask Boq if you don't believe me. I can afford a little rest to allow you to catch up. We do have to keep this interesting for your fans, don't we?"

At that Fiyero drained his drink. "Only ahead one now. C'mon we'll get you your next glass." Fiyero took Elphaba's hand and led her to the bar.

"Another drink for the lady sir and one for me," Fiyero said to the bartender who just shook his head and started to fill Fiyero another mug.

"So do you guys come here every week or what's the deal?" Elphaba asked trying to relocate Galinda stealthily, who had left the dance floor.

"We try to come at least a couple times a month. It started with just a few of us and as you can see," Fiyero gestured to the large group that was spread out through the bar, "we've grown quite a bit. This won't be the last time you come, right?" Fiyero handed Elphaba her glass and tipped the bartender.

"Well, we'll see how tonight goes and if Galinda will let me come back," Elphaba laughed into her wine.

"I think it's great you guys are friends now. She never said anything about you two officially burying the hatchet but I could tell something had changed between you two. She spoke…more fondly of you, let's put it that way."

"You mean she didn't complain about me and everything little thing I did and stood for anymore," Elphaba said.

"That could be a correct assessment as well. But even tonight she has been keeping an eye on you. Like right now." Fiyero pointed over to an area where Boq had finally cornered ShenShen. There she saw Galinda leaning against a table next to the two looking over towards the bar. When she saw Fiyero pointing to her she turned away making it seem as though she was in the conversation with Boq and ShenShen.

"She has been, hasn't she?" Elphaba said with a small smile creeping across her face. "Well, I think she's just making sure I don't embarrass her at this point."

"Well here's to embarrassing friends," Fiyero raised his glass to her for the second time that evening.

"To friends and embarrassing them," Elphaba answered clinking his glass and taking a swig of the wine. "I should talk to her I think. Or maybe you want to talk to her, you guys haven't had much alone time this evening."

"Lately that hasn't bothered Galinda that much. She seems, I don't know, preoccupied. She's always thinking about things now that before I didn't even know she knew existed. Like the architecture of the library. She went on to tell me about the architect and other buildings he had done and how you could pick out his certain traits. I mean, where would she even find out about that? Stanley Wheste-something," Fiyero said keeping his gaze on Galinda as he talked.

"Stanuel Whestenhouse. I got her a book from the library on him when she was commenting on the designs along the ceiling one day. I didn't even know she read it," Elphaba said looking at the blonde as well with intrigue.

"Well that explains it a bit more. I didn't think it was really like her do that kind of research in her spare time. But she did seem to like it so…well done!" Fiyero said finishing his drink. "And it looks like we're tied!"

"What! Elphaba looked wide eyed at her drink, which barely had a dent in it. Time to kick it up a notch she thought as she took a large gulp of her drink.

Fiyero walked towards Galinda and upon reaching her, asked for a slow dance. Galinda accepted and the two moved to the middle of the dance floor. Elphaba stood at the bar watching them sway in perfect motion together. They were in fact, the perfect couple, deserving of one another more than any other couple she had seen. Fiyero being the handsome, wealthy prince, who also, as it turns out, was a nice guy as well. That rarely happened. Avaric was proof of that. Galinda is the beautiful blonde, perky, loving person who would definitely make him a good wife and keep a lovely house for him. She would be the perfect date for all occasions whether personal, political or pleasure. And deep down she was genuinely the nicest person Elphaba had ever met.

"You might want to avert your eyes at some point or Galinda may go after you."

Pulling her gaze from the couple she looked over to her side at ShenShen who had slid up next to her at the bar. "What?"

"I said if you keep staring at Fiyero like that Galinda may go after you. Probably in your sleep since that's maybe the only time she could top you."

"Right, of course," Elphaba answered as she looked down at her now empty wine glass. When did that happen? She decided to take advantage of Fiyero's absence and order another drink and maybe get that down before he could order another. She turned to the bartender and ordered another. The bartender informed her that he was making last call so this was her last. Looking over she saw Boq and ShenShen empty handed and had a brilliant idea.

A few songs later Fiyero headed back over to the bar. He and Galinda had lost track of time as they found themselves lost in each others eyes. Or at least he found himself lost in hers. She did a lot more giggling and looking away than she normally did. He decided to chalk it up to the fact that she was a lot more sober than she usually was by this time during most of their outings. He looked around for Elphaba and found her sitting at a booth with her head resting in her hands. She seemed very focused on something on the table she sat at.

Galinda came up to the bar by Fiyero. "Have you seen Elphaba anywhere?"

"As a matter of fact," Fiyero pointed over to the green girl who looked a little greener than usual.

"Oh no!" Galinda went over to Elphaba and sat across from her in the booth reaching her hands across the table to Elphaba. "Elphie…Elphie talk to me. Are you all right? When and how did you get all these drinks down?" Galinda asked sliding over three empty wine glasses.

Elphaba glanced up from the spot she was concentrating on, her eyes a little droopier than before and definitely not smiling as much. "When you were dancing with Lover Boy over there. The bartender called last round so I had ShenShen and Boq get these other two for me. This way, I had to have beaten him! I just had to have…" Elphaba said letting the end of her statement trial off as her hand slid down on to the table followed closely by her head.

Galinda rolled her eyes at the sight of her roommate. She was afraid this would happen. "I hope you're happy now," Galinda said as she went over to Elphaba's side of the booth and wrapped her arm around her waist and wrapped Elphaba's arm around her neck. She finally got up enough leverage to where she thought she could carry Elphaba. "Okay, here we go Elphie, one step at a time, okay?"

Galinda slid Elphie off the booth seat and found that Elphaba as dead weight was a lot heavier than Elphaba standing a little on her own. As quick as she had stepped away from the booth, Galinda lost her grip on Elphaba and dropped her to the floor.

"Ow! Galinda what are you doing? What did you go and push me over for?" Elphaba said rubbing both her head and her shoulder which took most of the impact.

"Oh Elphie! I'm so sorry! I was trying to get you up and out of here but, well, we didn't make it very far," Galinda said while trying to help Elphaba up and brush her off. Truth be told she was a little relieved that it appeared she wouldn't have to carry Elphaba out now with her awake and a little more focused than before.

"Very far? I'm fairly certain that I moved further from the door," Elphaba said trying to gain her composure and thoughts.

"Elphaba, Galinda, what happened?" Fiyero rushed over to the scene looking over Galinda to make sure she wasn't hurt in any way.

"Your girlfriend here tried to help me out by pushing me out the door on my face," Elphaba said with a hint of a smile. She knew she had definitely pushed her tolerance and was not about to blame Galinda for this seriously.

"Well that'll teach you to eat extra custards at dinner now, won't it?" Galinda replied catching Elphaba's smile, happy she wasn't mad at her. "But seriously Elphaba we should go home. I'm afraid the worst has yet to hit. Those last three drinks you topped off with probably haven't even hit yet and I can't imagine what that's going to be like for you."

"Three? What three? The bar is closed, how did you get more drinks?" Fiyero asked looking past the girls to the glasses on the table.

Boq stepped forward showing the tally marks on his arms. Elphaba had ten and Fiyero had seven.

"Well I'll be. You actually did it. You might regret it in the morning, but you did it," Fiyero announced a little shocked. "Well m'lady what will be your dare for me to complete?"

Elphaba hadn't really thought about what she would dare Fiyero to do if she had won. She was too focused on winning and keeping tabs on her roommate. She didn't even know where to start.

"It must be quick though, the bar is closing soon," Fiyero said as groups of other people started to head out. Most of the Shiz girls and boys stayed to see what sort of embarrassing thing Fiyero, of all people, was going to have to do.

Elphaba thought and looked around the bar. She thought about making him serenade the older waitress who was now wiping down the beer soaked tables. Maybe she would make him dance a slow song with the bartender? She ended her search around the bar for ideas on Galinda. She looked at the girl and an idea struck her.

"Take Galinda out."

"What? What do you mean take her out? She's already out!" Fiyero replied confused, but amused.

"No, I mean not just to a bar out with your friends. I mean a real date. One with dinner, entertainment of the decent kind, maybe a museum or something? Buy her flowers; wear a suit instead of something that looks like you actually work in the fields of Oz. Take her out next week at this time with all those frills and then you can consider your dare complete. On second thought, your date is complete when Galinda agrees the night was all she could hope for." Elphaba said ignoring the dropped jaw and red face of her roommate and the pleased look on Fiyero's face.

"Ohh…you could have had him do anything and that's what you chose? Are you crazy?" someone in the group called out.

"I've made my decision and that's final. What do you say Fiyero?" Elphaba smiled at the boy who looked as though he was waiting for something more to the challenge like having to wear a thong through the night or having to answer Galinda's every command with "Yes, your majesty".

"All right Miss Elphaba, you have a deal." Fiyero said as he stuck out his hand for Elphaba to shake.

"Deal." The two shook and the crowd dispersed greatly disappointed.

"Until next week Miss Galinda. I shall contact you with further details. Ladies as we can not escort you to the gates of your houses I have arranged Sallina to," Fiyero said as the group started to say their goodbyes. Boq felt a little better about the parting than the greeting he had received earlier as ShenShen gave him a smile as he kissed her hand.

Fiyero kissed the hand of each girl giving Elphaba a wink as he left. "It was a pleasure to have you here this evening Elphie. Please, do grace us again soon."

Elphaba blushed a little as he released her hand and left the girls to their escort.


	3. The Prize's Wrath

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the wonderful things (or even not so wonderful things) that make up Wicked.**

**Chapter Three**

"Would you mind telling me what that was all about Elphie?" Galinda huffed, walking quickly alongside Elphaba, who just seemed to realize she was going to pass out at some point in the near future and she preferred it to be in her own bed or at the very least her own bathroom.

"I was trying to help you, that's all," Elphaba answered hiking her dress up higher so she could move easier.

"What do you mean help me? Fiyero and I are already dating or was our dancing together tonight not enough proof of that for you?" Galinda tried to at least stay alongside Elphaba, forcing her shorter legs to move quicker. She was not letting Elphaba off the hook with this. What right did she have to force Fiyero into taking Galinda on a date without even consulting Galinda? None!

"Well, I did watch you two dancing and it looked like you weren't really focusing on Fiyero the whole time, as most swooning girls would, and I thought maybe a push in the relationship might spike the interest back up."

"My relationship with Fiyero does not need any 'pushing' or 'spiking' of any sort thank you very much. And what makes you the judge of that anyhow? How many guys have you actually dated Elphaba? How many times have you had to decide where your relationship was going with someone?" Galinda asked daringly, already knowing the answer.

Elphaba stopped her brisk pace and turned to face Galinda for the first time since she announced the dare. Galinda had never seen Elphaba give as mean of a look to anyone before as she was receiving from the girl now. Galinda tried her best to imitate the look by adding an extra squint to her eyes and piercing her lips as tight as she could with just enough furrow in her brow. She was not giving in.

"That was uncalled for Galinda and you know that very well."

"Well, it finally got your attention. I'm sorry Elphie, but you weren't giving me any answers, any _real_ answers. This isn't just about you and Fiyero now you know. It wasn't like you dared him to take out a total stranger or _yourself_ even. You dared him to take _me_ out, Elphie, and you didn't even say anything to me! How do you think that makes me feel, being the prize of a dare? Especially coming from two people I trust and consider my friends!" Galinda said to Elphaba, trying to keep her voice down but in the end her emotions got the best of her and she ended up yelling. Galinda was actually proud that she hadn't ended up crying because she thought Elphaba would think she was weak if she did.

Seeing that the other girls had stopped walking as well to listen in on their conversation, Elphaba sighed and asked quietly, "Can we talk about this in our room please. I promise, I'll answer everything you ask to the best of my ability. I just don't think we need an audience and I would really, _really_ like to be back in our room right now," Elphaba said fighting back nausea as she said the last part.

Galinda looked at Elphaba. It seemed she had calmed down about the relationship insult and was at least looking sorry about the situation she and Galinda were in. "If you promise, okay."

"I promise. Please!" Elphaba said with a pleading look.

Galinda rolled her eyes and continued walking. She was ahead of Elphaba for only a second as she was quickly passed by the girl who looked like she could start running at any point.

The group finished the walk back to the houses and thanked their escort. The groups of girls said their goodnights and ShenShen and Pfannee congratulated Elphaba on her winnings. They made their partings quick as they knew Elphaba and Galinda both wanted to go to their room as quickly as possible, even if for different reasons.

Galinda and Elphaba made it to their room just in time as Elphaba lost her battle against the pains in her stomach. After a few wretched moments and a glass of cider, Elphaba flopped down on her bed and looked over at Galinda, who hadn't said a word since their walk ended.

"We can finish our discussion now if you'd like Galinda."

The walk had allowed Galinda to think more about the situation. Elphaba usually doesn't rush into things without going though a thought process so Galinda was sure she had one for this decision. Of course she hadn't ever experienced drunken Elphaba before.

"I guess I just want to know why Elphie. It was so out of the blue, so unordinary, so unlike you!" Galinda said turning her attention to Elphaba as she rolled onto her stomach while she lay on her bed.

"Well, I guess I watched you tonight and you didn't seem as happy as you used to be with Fiyero. You two still _looked_ perfect together in every way, don't get me wrong, but something was…different." Elphaba answered wrinkling her brow concentrating on thinking back to the couple dancing. "I just wanted you to be as happy as you made me tonight. I didn't even think that it wasn't something you'd want as well." Elphaba said looking at Galinda with the most apologetic face she could put on.

"Were those the sounds of joy and happiness I just heard a few moments ago?" asked Galinda allowing a little giggle out.

"No, no I'm afraid those were the sounds of regret you had mentioned previously," Elphaba joked back, "but seriously, what is going on with you and Fiyero? You don't gush about him as much lately and I've actually seen you taking notes in some classes instead of writing 'Mrs. Galinda Tiggular' all over your notebooks with hearts and stars like usual."

Galinda sighed and rolled onto her back looking up at the ceiling. "I don't know Elphie; I guess for once I just see more to my life than marrying the right guy and becoming a trophy wife. I'm doing better at magic, I swear. I may not be as good as you, but I am doing better! And I read that book you gave me on Whestenhouse and I understood it all and actually found it interesting! Safe to say that doesn't usually happen to me when reading books. I think all your thinking is rubbing off on me Elphie."

"So what you're saying is…" Elphaba looked at her roommate with a mix of anticipation and fear for what her she would finish her rant with.

"What I'm saying is maybe Fiyero and I aren't really meant to be. He's a great guy, you saw that tonight. It's just…I don't think he'd be making the right choice with me. I'm finding other things more interesting than him and I don't think that's what he wants in a wife. That's what he wants in friends yes, but not a wife or even a girlfriend I'm afraid. And I don't think that's the kind of relationship I can be in anymore."

"So that's it? I wasted my dare on a guy you're planning on dumping?" Elphaba replied jokingly trying to lighten the darkened mood.

"I'm afraid so Elphie. But enough talk about such things tonight. It was too great of a night to end on a sour note like we're starting to. You did have a good time, right? You had to have!" Galinda laughed as she looked over at Elphaba smiling her bright smile.

"I did. It was not as hard as I thought it would be. I do think the alcohol helped but I don't think your friends can hate me the next time they see me."

"Oh Elphie, of course they won't hate you. I'll make sure of it."

"You're planning on taking me under your strong wing Miss Galinda? From Mean Green to Perky Pink?" Elphaba laughed tossing a pillow at Galinda.

"You mean green thing! Try to help someone and look at the thanks I get. You'll be lucky if I don't put a hex on you while you sleep. Better yet I could turn all your black clothes pink," Galinda responded while tossing the pillow back to its owner.

The girls laughed a little longer and talked more about the evening.

"Elphie I had fun with you tonight. I think tonight was my favorite of our outings to the pubs."

"What do you normally do? Just try and keep it clean for innocent ears please," Elphaba said as she started to take her shoes off and brush her hair.

"Well pretty much what you saw except for Fiyero and I would spend more time together dancing, drinking and…stuff," Galinda answered getting off her bed and beginning to get ready to sleep as well.

"And stuff. Thank you for cleaning it up for me," Elphaba laughed, "Well, what was your favorite part of tonight that made it your favorite?"

"Well it's not like I kiss, hug, grope and tell anyway," Galinda said to Elphaba giving her a wink. Elphaba blushed, much to Galinda's delight. "I don't know. I just felt like a proud parent all night watching you. I will tell you that dancing with you ranks very high on the 'favorites' list for tonight. Briefly as it was, it was great fun. Where did you learn to dance anyway? I never would have imagined you knowing how to move as you did." Galinda asked, remembering Elphaba's spin move she snuck in on Galinda.

"Just because my father didn't show that he loved me many ways didn't mean he would allow a heathen in his house. Any proper lady in the Thropp family would learn the ins and outs of formal dinner activities, including etiquette and dance," Elphaba curtsied to emphasize.

"Well, you're lucky we should be getting to bed because I would make you demonstrate what you had learned, especially that little shimmy you did on the dance floor," Galinda said sliding her yellow skirt off and tossing it on a nearby chair.

"That was more of an adaptation of something someone would do when drying off their rear. Not the kind of stuff taught by Madame Pintz. In fact, I'm fairly certain she would have been appalled at my display of dance tonight. Maybe if you're lucky sometime I'll challenge Fiyero to a dance off," Elphaba replied settling on her bed in her nightgown.

"Oh, you would win hands down. Fiyero may appear to be deeply infatuated with whomever he's dancing with but that's just because he knows he can't dance well any other way. I would venture to guess you would dance circles around him," Galinda said as she finished changing and sat on her bed facing Elphaba with her legs crossed and her elbows sitting on her knees.

"So you two have never danced properly together?" Elphaba asked a little shocked. So it turns out Mr. Perfect wasn't so perfect.

"No, it took me a while to figure out why he would only dance when he could hold me close and just sway. I thought at first he just really, _really_ liked me," Galinda giggled, "Then I asked him to dance another dance and he got very quiet and told me that this was the only way he knew he wouldn't embarrass he and I on the dance floor. He, of course, played it off as though it was nothing."

Elphaba thought for a second and then starting laughing.

"What's so funny Elphie?" Galinda asked.

"If I would have known about this earlier I would have just dared him to dance with one of his friends. That probably would have satisfied everyone if he's as bad as you say he is," Elphaba smiled.

Galinda laughed until her sides hurt at the mental picture she had of Avaric and Fiyero stomping around trying to dance with each other. Both girls began to quiet down and soon the room was silent. Elphaba lay on her bed staring on the ceiling with a smile plastered on her face. It had been such a good evening, actually a good day all together. For the first time Elphaba thought she had actually made some friends, well at least one for sure. She turned her head to see the blonde all ready looking at her. Elphaba flashed her smirk.

Galinda smiled back at her roommate who seemed to glow this evening. What a pair the two of them made. They couldn't be more opposite but right now she felt they were as connected as anyone in the world could be. And it felt good.

"Elphie, I'm sorry about bringing up that whole relationship situation. I shouldn't have and I promise I won't do that to you again." Galinda said remembering her harsh actions earlier.

"You're forgiven as long as I am. I wasn't thinking clearly and it was stupid for me to make you the prize of a dare, even if you do make a nice prize," Elphaba apologized somewhat jokingly.

"Forgiven." Galinda swung her legs over her bed and walked over to Elphaba. She bent down and gave the green girl a kiss on the cheek as if it was something she did every night. "Goodnight Elphie, fresh dreams."

Elphaba was a little thrown by Galinda's sudden show of affection towards her. She sat up on her elbow and reached up to touch Galinda's cheek with her fingers and gently rubbed it with her thumb. Elphaba watched as Galinda shut her eyes briefly and pushed into her hand slightly. Elphaba smiled at the warmth of Galinda and looked at the odd sight of Galinda's flawless porcelain skin against her dark jade skin. Galinda opened her eyes and smiled back at Elphaba. "Fresh dreams Galinda," Elphaba said slowly drawing her hand away from Galinda.

Galinda made her way back to her bed and got under the covers. Later from the other side of the room, much like the first night the two actually talked civilly to each other, she heard Elphaba. "Thank you Galinda…for everything. That's the kind of note to end on I think." Galinda silently agreed, let out a content sigh and finally settled into a happy slumber.


	4. Girl Talk

**Chapter Four**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Wicked or any of the fine characters I am using.**

**A/N: Thank you so much to those of you who have reviewed! I really do appreciate any feedback you have to offer as this is my first story here. I am trying to consistently work on it every day for you guys! Thank you for sticking with me!**

The next morning Elphaba awoke with the sun shining on her face and a pain in her head. All the wine from last night had come back to haunt her this morning. Wrinkling her face and letting out a groan, she rolled out of her bed to go grab a glass of cider from a jug on the table and some pain relieving powder she had stored for such instances. The fact she didn't have classes for the next two days was the only thought that comforted Elphaba. She started to walk to the bathroom to get the power from her cabinet with her hand resting on her head and her eyes squinted. While she trudged her way into the bathroom, mumbling to herself about her actions the previous night, she didn't see her pink towel clad roommate until she ran right into her. Elphaba jumped back quickly as drops of water splashed from Galinda's wet hair onto her arm.

"Elphie! I'm so sorry, are you all right? Here use this," Galinda said, starting to loosen the towel around her, looking at the dark marks forming on Elphaba's arm where the drops had fallen. Her eyes were wide and worried.

"No, no, don't worry about a towel now, the damage is done and it's only temporary. Stay covered, I just need my oils," Elphaba replied as she tried to squeeze by her roommate without further damaging herself.

Elphaba got a small bottle out of the cabinet and dabbed some of the oil inside of it on a rag and placed it on her arm. As she did, the burning sensation subsided and she was only left with what looked like black ash marks on her arm.

"I will never get use to seeing that happen Elphie. Not that I want it to happen more often so I get use to it or anything but I can't imagine what it feels like. I'm so sorry Elphaba I should have watched where I was going," Galinda said as she picked up Elphaba's arm to inspect it, putting her face up close to the marks to make sure they were not growing in size or blistering as she had seen Elphaba's skin do sometimes when it came in contact with water.

Elphaba thought about telling Galinda to light a match, blow it out and then quickly put it to her skin and she would get a similar sensation that Elphaba felt from the droplets. She knew Galinda wasn't being spiteful in wondering what Elphaba felt so she kept the comment to herself and instead grinned at the girl's curiosity. "No need to worry your pretty head about it Glin, the marks will fade and it doesn't hurt anymore. I wish I could say the same for my head though," she laughed as she remembered why she had needed to come in the bathroom in the first place. "It feels like my head is being used as someone's drum."

Galinda lightly kissed the marks on her roommate's arm then released it to go get dressed. "That is what my mom use to do when I hurt myself. It always made everything much better in my opinion. I'm fairly certain that won't help your head though so I'll not put you through that as I am sure you would turn a brilliant green. I would say it serves you right to have a pounding head for drinking that much if you weren't so entertaining last night."

"Well, thank you Dr. Galinda," Elphaba said feeling her face grow warmer thinking about what Galinda had just said about kissing her head better. "So now I was entertaining last night? I thought you were going to slap me on the way home," Elphaba replied while mixing her pain relieving powder in with some cider.

"You're welcome and I shall check on you later today to assure complete recovery. And I wasn't happy on the way home but we talked it out and now the situation is settled. Well, except for the part where I have to tell Fiyero I think we should see other people," Galinda said as she finished dressing and started to work on her hair combing through her wet locks stopping briefly when Elphaba passed being careful not to singe her roommate again.

"You're really going to put an end to it this soon? I thought you were still thinking about it. Maybe you should give him one last chance. The date would be a perfect opportunity," Elphaba said digging through her dresser looking for a skirt.

"I have been thinking about this. It wasn't just something that dawned on me last night. I have been trying with him but I just can't shake the feeling that it's not the same with him anymore and that it won't be. He's not what I'm looking for." Galinda sat on her bed and started to braid her hair looking over at Elphaba as she finished dressing. "I did notice I wasn't the only one who had a good time with Fiyero last night," Galinda mentioned slyly.

Elphaba went over to look at the pile of text books on her desk to start her homework. "Yes, I suppose if given the opportunity ShenShen or Pfannee would love to go out with Fiyero," Elphaba replied absentmindedly. Elphaba found the book she needed and pulled it out. She moved back to her bed and laid down on her stomach flipping the book open.

"I suppose they would, yes, but I was not referring to them Elphaba," Galinda said with a smirk waiting for her roommate to realize who she was talking about.

"Well there weren't that many other girls there I knew last night other than the four of…wait a minute, you're not talking about me, are you?" Elphaba said looking back at her roommate with her brow scrunched up at the thought of Fiyero and her dating. "Galinda, you need to get some breakfast, you're starting to talk crazy."

"It's not that far fetched you know. He had a good time with you and I think you had a good time with him," Galinda said in a high pitched, sing-songy voice that you would use talking to a baby or a small child.

Elphaba looked over at the bouncing Galinda. She shut her eyes, sighed and shut her book. She knew this was going to happen when she actually befriended the popular blonde. "Galinda, we will have this discussion once and only once for my sake. I can tell this will be something that you're going to think about a lot if we continue to be friends. I am here to study. I may partake in some group outings now and then but I have no interest in dating, being set up or even group dates. If any of these things change I will let you know, but the chances of that happening are not very likely at all."

Galinda nodded at the rant Elphaba had delivered. She had expected something like that soon enough. "So we are having a discussion about these matters, yes? That is what I heard? That means I get to comment on your statements."

Elphaba hesitated for a second feeling as though she had just stepped into a trap. She knew the blonde wouldn't let the topic drop quickly but she had expected more of an 'outburst' reaction instead of the calm and collected girl across from her. "Yes, I did say discussion so I guess if we follow the definition of the word you would have an opportunity to add your thoughts."

"Thank you Miss Elphaba. Now, you have stated that these matters in dating and things of that nature may change. What would cause the change? What kind of person?" Galinda asked, pretending she was in a formal debate like the ones she saw mayors and other politicians have in the town square while she was shopping.

Elphaba rolled her eyes sensing where this 'discussion' was going. "I don't know Galinda. I don't think about these kinds of things. I didn't grow up with a group of giggling girls around me all the time pointing out cute guys, talking about future weddings or talking about who's a good kisser, not that my father would even allow it if he did like me. 'Those kinds of impure thoughts should not cloud a woman's head,'" Elphaba said lowering her voice to imitate her father on one of his tirades about proper behavior and avoiding sin.

"Well now is your chance Elphie! You have a person who could be considered a professional at that sort of thing right here at your disposal!" Galinda answered bouncing off her bed and bounding onto Elphaba's bed, laying down on her stomach, hugging Elphaba's pillow with eyes set intently on Elphaba.

"I think you missed something here. Or maybe I did. Let me start over. I may partake in some group outings…" Elphaba said shaking her head at the girl next to her who looked like she had reverted to her 13 year old self in a matter of minutes.

"No, I heard what you said Elphie but what I picked out was that you were never given the chance to discuss these things. You missed out on a very important part of girlhood and I am here to help you gain that back so we can maybe help you move on in life," Galinda said with hope and confidence.

Elphaba look at Galinda raising one eyebrow and squinting the other eye. "Galinda, what does your father do for a living?"

"He's a partner at a bank, why?"

"I just wanted to make sure he wasn't a psychiatrist or anything. You sound like you're giving me a therapy session."

"Oh no, Daddy has always worked in money. He likes facts, figures and other things he can figure out by getting his hands on it and sticking a formula to it. Always a sucker for puzzles and such," Galinda said with a smile, thinking about her father at his desk in his office at their home with his body bent over a puzzle book, chewing on a pencil.

"Okay, I don't want to think you've gotten some crazy idea that you're going to try and analyze the inner workings of my mind," Elphaba said with a relieved laugh.

"No, Daddy never believed much for the workings of psychiatrists. But he had to at least respect them when he married my mother," Galinda said smiling innocently at Elphaba.

"Well I think that's a sensible…wait a minute. Your mother! I knew there was something going on here, your mother is a psychiatrist!" Elphaba said starting to rise from the bed.

"Sit down Elphie, you don't need to worry about me delving into your 'inner workings' or anything. Ozma help me, I'd never get out again! I'm just saying a quick session of girl talk might be fun and even though you might not think so, helpful and virtually painless," Galinda said grabbing Elphaba's arm and pulling her back down on the bed before the brooding girl could go stalk off and plunge herself into a book for safety.

"Well, even though it seems like such an easy thing for you, it's not something I can just dive into. I'm not even sure I want to do this!"

"What do you think we've been doing at night when we talk about books, the things happening at school, Horrible Morrible? You might not want to admit it Elphie but I've all ready gotten you to participate, we just haven't come across this topic before," Galinda said poking Elphaba emphasizing the truth. "I will make a deal with you. You give me fifteen solid minutes of productive girl talk and I will give you the rest of the day to brood, study and whatever else you desire."

"What's keeping me from doing that now?" asked Elphaba.

"Me going, 'Elphie what are you doing? Elphie, you want to go out? Elphie, can I do your hair? Elphie, what's your favorite color? Elphie, why do you crack your knuckles while you study sometimes? Elphie, do you think this dress makes me look fat? Elphie…"

"Okay! Enough! I get it!" Elphaba surrendered flopping back on her bed covering her ears to Galinda's rapid fire questions.

"Really, that's the easiest thing to do for both of us," Galinda said patting the top of Elphaba's head "Now because you obviously won't start this and I want to make these fifteen minutes count, I'll ask questions and you answer, okay?"

"No."

"First, have you ever had a crush? Even a tiny little one when you were a little girl counts," Galinda asked looking down at her roommate whose eyes were shut and face was emotionless.

"No. Next."

"Has anyone intrigued enough to make you to learn more about them?"

"No. Next."

"Elphaba, before you answer this next question it will do you good to remember I said productive girl talk and answering yes or even more so, no, to every question will drag this out even longer. Now, assuming you were telling the truth on the last two questions, who did you look up to when growing up? Who do you look up to now?"

Elphaba thought about answering 'Everyone when I was younger, because they were taller than me and no one now because I'm taller than them' but thought better of it. "My father. Nanny. Dr. Dillamond. You. Nessa," answered Elphaba in a monotone voice keeping her eyes shut but wondering what Galinda was going to make of that list of people she had just rattled off.

Galinda blushed a little and tried to keep calm after hearing her name included on the list. This thrilled and intrigued her to pieces. She didn't want to scare Elphaba so she tried to continue the discussion diplomatically. "Okay good! We're getting somewhere now! All right your father, that makes sense because he's a father figure. Nanny was a mother figure. Dr. Dillamond appeals to your intellectual side. Nessa is a little difficult but I think you looked up to her mainly because she was your father's favorite and you wanted that kind of adoration from him. Now m…"

"This sounds more like therapy again than girl talk," Elphaba said before Galinda could go any further on about her list knowing there was only one more person left to discuss.

Galinda eyed Elphaba suspiciously, "Okay, have it your way then. So, what turns you on?"

Elphaba's eyes flew open and she whipped her head to look at her roommate who looked back at her with her eyebrows raised in a 'you asked for it' matter. "That is not girl talk!"

"Who would know better Elphaba, me or you? It is very much apart of girl talk sometimes but for the simple fact that I want you to be able to form words for the next hour, I'll retract that question and instead ask you what qualities do you look for in a person you would consider a friend or in your case, someone you wouldn't hate?" Galinda said leading the conversation again.

"Well, I…think highly of people who stand up for themselves and what they believe in. I like talking to people about ethics, religions and Animals rights so if they have input on those kinds of things they're okay. I can tolerate people who don't follow the crowd and can think for themselves. A person with a sense of humor is okay too. It would be nice if there was someone who could put up with my moods and still make me smile at the end of the day. And a nice butt would be a plus," Elphaba said laughing at the end of her list of qualities.

Galinda had be lost in Elphaba's words thinking about different people who could fit this complex girl's tastes, which ended up being not so complex after all. Then she focused on the last quality mentioned. "Elphie!"

"What? Isn't that girl talk at its finest? You must throw in some body part you like, right? You're okay talking about turn ons and you're shocked at the mention of a cute butt?" Elphaba laughed looking at her roommate's shocked expression.

"That's fine I just didn't expect it from you, that's all!" Galinda laughed with Elphaba, happy this seemed to be working out better than she had hoped. Now if she could just get Elphaba's mind off that fifteen minute time limit. "So we're looking for a funny, intellectual person that walks to the beat of their own drum, with a cute butt. I can work with that."

Elphaba stopped laughing. "Galinda, this was all hypothetical. These are all just qualities I enjoy in a person. That does not mean I would go out in search of this person for a relationship. I have not changed my mind about dating yet and I am very serious when I say I do not want to be set up. I trust you as a friend that you will not try and do that, okay?"

Galinda berated herself for letting that last bit about 'working with that' slip out. She had meant to keep all thoughts about looking for a date for Elphaba to herself but she had let her guard down as they were laughing. Now Galinda was torn on whether she should abandon the idea all together as her roommate wished or if she should continue with her ideas under cover as planned. She looked at Elphaba and knew that she didn't want to lose her friendship or hurt the poor girl. She would have to talk to the girl about this some more at a later time. She took Elphaba's hand in her own. "I don't understand why Elphie, but it obviously means a lot to you. I promise I will be on my best behavior and will not try and set you up with anyone. Do I have time for at least one more question though?"

"If you make it quick, you only have a few minutes left."

"I will. I was just wondering what you would do if someone expressed some interest in dating you on their own without any prearranged planning."

"As highly unlikely as that is, that would be one thing to consider I suppose," Elphaba answered softly looking down at her and Galinda's hands. She wondered if Galinda held Fiyero's hand all the time. She bet she did. Galinda seemed like she was a physical person, always touching someone to comfort them. Elphaba had to admit it was nice even though generally unexpected. What was odd was Galinda seemed to be one of the few people that didn't cause her to jump or get nervous when they touched her.

Galinda looked over at Elphaba who had become silent. She had a far off look as if she was in deep thought, a pretty natural state of being for Elphaba. She followed Elphaba's gaze and saw she was looking at their hands. She took this chance to look at them as well. She tried to picture Elphaba out on a date, going to dinner with someone, laughing over dessert, and then walking home holding hands talking about stars or something thoughtful like that. Then she thought about Elphaba kissing someone goodnight. She figured her date would have to initiate, but she pictured Elphaba wrapping her arms around that person and kissing them with some force. She bet Elphaba would be a passionate lo... person. She felt her face flush and her heart beat quicken the more she imagined.

"Oh my…" Galinda let escape out her lips quietly.

This snapped Elphaba out of her daze. She looked up and saw a wide eyed, red faced Galinda looking at their hands. Elphaba started to get self conscious and cleared her throat to get Galinda's attention.

"What?" Galinda blinked and looked up at Elphaba.

Elphaba smiled at the girl who had obviously been lost in thought as well. "I didn't say anything Glin. I was just wondering if this signaled girl talk time was over."

Galinda released Elphaba's hand, got up and walked over to her side of the room looking for something. "I suppose it must be. I'm sure I've kept you from your studies long enough. I'm surprised you didn't start twitching or something. I think I'll go down and get some brunch from the café, would you care for anything?" Galinda asked, laughing nervously.

"More cider would be terrific and maybe a fig bun," Elphaba answered laying back down on her stomach pulling her book back out.

"Got it. How is your head? Anything I can get for that?" Galinda asked grabbing a small bag and slipping her shoes on.

Elphaba hadn't thought about her headache since they had started talking. The pain was gone. "Actually, I think I will make a full recovery Dr. Galinda."

"Well, I still have to be the judge of your arm later. I'll grab the food and be back in a bit. Maybe I'll stop by ShenShen and Pfannee's to see how they have faired this morning and you can have some alone time. You've earned it," Galinda said thinking she could maybe benefit from some alone time as well after her imagination had run off with her not too long ago.

Galinda said goodbye to Elphaba and left their room with a final look back at her roommate all ready fully concentrated on her book. It didn't look like she had been affected by what Galinda considered a 'moment' between them. Maybe it was just her? Galinda leaned up against the wall in the hall. "What in Oz is going on with me?" Galinda whispered quietly to herself.


	5. New Views

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked or any of it's characters.**

**A/N: Here's a quick update that's a little different than earlier chapters. The girls spend most of this chapter a part but they will be back together soon enough, so no worries. Again, thank you all for the reviews it helps keep me focused on progressing this.**

**Chapter 5**

As soon as Galinda had stepped out of the room Elphaba looked up from her book and let out a sigh as she flopped her head down on the bed. What was it about that girl that exhausted her and excited her at the same time? She was afraid to do so, but she couldn't help but think about the blonde girl who seems to have snuck into her life. Elphaba thought about when she had first met the girl which, coincidently, was when the two found out they would be roommates. At the time this news did not make either girl happy. Galinda went out of her way to ignore her green roommate. She felt Elphaba was not someone suitable for her to room with. She needed someone at least in a similar social ranking if she was going to successfully climb the social ladder through Shiz. Really that was one of the only reasons she was going to this university. The wealthy, famous and powerful sent their kids to Shiz for higher education so of course Galinda should come to Shiz as well so they could meet her. Luckily she was able to get sympathy from the other girls who had seen the travesty take place and were quick to comfort Galinda in her time of need. Galinda took advantage of this and milked it for all it was worth. She rarely spent time in their room so Elphaba had a lot of time to study and be alone, which made her perfectly content.

When she saw Galinda in the halls she did not even look at her. That was mostly because then she would have to pay attention to the girls with Galinda making comments about her. They would verbally attack her skin color, her looks, the fact she was teacher's pet and because she was…well, just different. Elphaba did notice that Galinda would rarely join in on the teasing. There were a few times she made comments on the girl for all to hear but Elphaba had usually provoked her in some way. Elphaba smiled thinking of the times she had poked fun at Galinda. She didn't know why but it made her feel good to see the girl at least react to her. It made her feel a little validated that the girl couldn't ignore her completely.

"The artichoke is steamed," Elphaba mumbled to herself, laughing about the last time Galinda had made a comment about her. She had that one coming to her after she made a comment about Dr. Dillamond being different than other professors by not falling all over themselves for Galinda and her wishes. For the girl everyone called good, sweet and innocent all the time she had another side to her that Elphaba has loved getting to know. This side wasn't really mean or anything, but it was smart, quick witted and even though she couldn't master sarcasm the way Elphaba had, sometimes she could give as good as she took from the green girl.

But now what? There seemed to be something greater building between the two girls. Elphaba knew she could feel it but what was it? And more importantly, did Galinda feel it too?

Elphaba decided she needed to get out of their room and go think in her favorite spot at the university. She gathered a few subjects worth of books, put them in her bag and went on her way.

* * *

Galinda was trying to make her way back from visiting with ShenShen. She couldn't stop focusing on the girls visit.

Pfannee was out with Boq in town that morning. It turns out they had really hit it off the previous night and Boq wanted to treat her to a brunch and a trip to some shops. The two girls discussed the previous night for a bit, laughing at Fiyero and Elphaba's antics.

"So what do you think of her ShenShen now that you've gotten to spend some time with her?" Galinda asked a little curious if someone else was feeling the same way about Elphaba that she was.

"I'm not going to lie Galinda, I was a little shocked you brought her along last night. It took me awhile to even want to acknowledge she was there with us. She brought me a drink and asked me if I thought Avaric was still wonderful," ShenShen said thinking back to when she had walked off from Avaric's group of fawners. "She was actually okay to talk with. Not as intimidating as I thought but that also could have been the alcohol taking off her edge. There is something I feel like I should tell you about last night Galinda," ShenShen said looking down at her hands which she was fidgeting.

"What?" Galinda asked a little curious.

"I don't know how to say thing but I think she may be using you," ShenShen said still not looking up at Galinda.

"What? That's crazy Shen, what would give you an idea like that?" Galinda laughed.

"When you and Fiyero were dancing she was watching. Like, _really_ watching. It wasn't until I snapped her out of her daze that she even blinked. It was liking she was in a trance. It was kind of scary."

Galinda felt herself get warm again. She had to shift how she was sitting to feel a little more comfortable. Elphaba had been watching her on the dance floor? So maybe she wasn't the only one feeling something between the two of them. A smile started to creep across her face.

"I told her if she wanted Fiyero she would have to go through you first."

Galinda awoke from her dream world startled. "Fiyero? She was looking at Fiyero?"

"Haven't you been listening to me? She was practically drooling watching you two dance. Then she had to drink herself into oblivion to get over the fact you had him and not her."

"She said this to you?" Galinda asked confused not wanting to believe what ShenShen was saying.

"She agreed that she would have to get you out of the way to get to him. I don't remember the exact conversation we had but you could tell she was definitely distracted about the whole thing."

"Huh…well…thank you for this information ShenShen," Galinda said more confused than before she came to talk to the girl. "I think I should be going."

"Galinda dear, could you keep this between us? I've seen Elphaba practicing her magic and…" ShenShen ended with a nervous laugh.

"Right, of course. You don't have to worry about Elphie using her magic. I'll talk to you later ShenShen," Galinda continued her way out still slightly dazed.

Galinda tried not to think more about it until she could sit down with Elphaba and maybe get some answers from the girl.

* * *

Elphaba had been reading curled up in 'her' chair in an isolated corner on the top floor of the library for only a few minutes when she heard someone whistling a few shelves behind her. Elphaba tried to turn around in the chair to see who the mystery whistler was. No one ever comes up in this part of the wing. The whistling stopped for a moment after Elphaba's chair squeaked as she moved. After she settled, the whistler continued their tune. Elphaba turned again but did not see anyone through the rows of books. The whistle started again and Elphaba whipped around this time.

"All right, enough fun and games. Come out and show yourself," Elphaba said irritated that someone had infiltrated her private spot. That irritation went away quickly and was replaced with confusion when a Winkie prince stepped out from the stacks grinning from ear to ear.

"Laying there on that floor was very much worth that priceless look on your face Elphie."

"Fiyero, what are you doing here?" Elphaba asked looking around to see if any of his adoring fans had followed him.

"Well I was looking for either ShenShen or Pfannee for advise but as it so happens I found you!"

"You found me in a corner of the library through mazes of shelves and stack of books that would challenge even The Wizard's mazes?" Elphaba looked at him with an eyebrow raised in disbelief.

"Well you found it, didn't you?"

Elphaba continued to hold her look.

"Okay, okay so I saw you in the court yard and followed you up here. Like I said, I needed some advise and I think you might be the best person to talk to about this matter. Will you at least entertain the idea?" Fiyero asked with pleading eyes.

Elphaba rolled her eyes. Just what she needed, a male with Galinda's persuasive techniques. She looked around the boy not seeing any obvious escape routes. Even if she did find a way out he would just follow her until he got his way. She plopped back down in her chair and motioned for Fiyero to sit in another that was a little ways away. Better to get this over with sooner than later.

Fiyero grinned his little boy grin again and ran over to pull the chair close to Elphaba's. Elphaba just rolled her eyes again and sighed. First girl talk, now this…whatever it was. This was not turning out to be Elphaba's day.

"Okay, now you know the date I am to arrange with Galinda. Of course you do, you set it up. Now I was trying to think of the best way to entertain her. I've gone around campus and collected some flyers for events that night. I was hoping you could maybe make a suggestion? Maybe she's even mentioned one of these things and it would be marvelous of me to take her," Fiyero ended with a wink at Elphaba knowing how cocky he sounded.

"You know, you were more tolerable when I was drunk," Elphaba said shaking her head. "Fiyero, I am in no mood for your games. As you can imagine it was a less than pleasant morning for me and I was coming up here for some peace and quiet."

Seeing Elphaba was loosing patience Fiyero switched strategies. "Okay, okay, no more fronts. This is the real deal Elphie. I do want Galinda to enjoy herself on this date with me. I do want to make her happy. I do need your advice. I trust you to be honest with me Elphie. I trust you would only want the best for Galinda," Fiyero said. There was no trace of insincerity in his voice or his face. He looked right into Elphaba's eyes which was something very few people did. Elphaba did nothing for a few moments but look back into his eyes. She hadn't noticed but his blue eyes had streaks of green in them. It was a very brilliant green that stood out to Elphaba. They were quite fetching and she now knew why Galinda was always talking about his eyes. Relinquishing her stubbornness, Elphaba asked Fiyero, "What are the choices you've gathered?"

Fiyero resisted the smile that tugged desperately at his mouth and instead pulled some of the flyers he had pulled down from around campus and around town. He handed them to Elphaba and leaned back in the chair. He knew with Elphaba's help he couldn't go wrong with the blonde beauty. She obviously knew more about Galinda than he thought when she made that dare. She knew Fiyero needed this date more than he knew. Maybe Galinda had said that he wasn't impressing her anymore or that she was thinking or pursuing another suitor. He got the feeling from that night at the bar that even though they didn't know each other very well, Elphaba was on his side or at least hated him the least out of the guys Galinda may or may not be looking into.

Elphaba flipped through the multicolored papers. She didn't really know what she was doing helping Fiyero. Galinda had stated last night and confirmed this morning she was going to break things off with him. Why should she get his hopes up for this date when she knew it wasn't going to happen? But what if Galinda changes her mind? She still could. After all, they haven't talked yet and maybe Fiyero could convince her that this date would be worth it. She looked up nervously at the boy across from her who now smiled back at her waiting for her response. Elphaba looked back down at the flyers. Could it really hurt to help Fiyero? Elphaba did believe the two of them were perfect for each other. Maybe Galinda needed to see a different side of Fiyero? She didn't want to admit to herself that for some reason she was a little happy when Galinda said she was going to tell Fiyero she wasn't interested in him anymore. Maybe that meant the two of them would spend more time together. Maybe she could find out what this feeling was she got around Galinda. This morning wasn't so horrible at all. Some of it was actually quite nice. She smiled thinking back to the bouncing blonde on her bed, hugging her pillow beaming up at her. The look of amusement on her face when she mentioned cute butts. There could maybe be more moments like this if…

Fiyero cleared his throat after Elphaba seemed to be gazing at one sheet in particular. He waited for her to say something but got nothing for a few minutes. The green girl looked up at him with a slight blush. What was going on in that head of hers?

Elphaba pushed those thoughts of Galinda and her to the back of her mind. How selfish was she? It wasn't like Galinda was her property to hide away or keep from others. For all she knew it was a one sided misapprehension Elphaba was feeling. And if not Fiyero then some other boy would come attempt to sweep Galinda off her feet, then what would she do? At least it appeared Fiyero had good intentions toward Galinda. She could at least get the boy going in the right direction again with this seemingly 'new' Galinda. She started flipping pages again. Then she saw it. The answer on a wrinkled, pale blue paper.

"Here," Elphaba handed the paper to Fiyero who quickly leaned forward to see what Elphaba had come up with.

"Dance lessons? Elphaba I don't know if this is a joke or not but I don't need dance lessons," Fiyero scoffed handing her the sheet back.

"Oh really? Prove it," Elphaba stood offering her hand to Fiyero.

"What? We're in a library! There's no music. What if someone sees us?" Fiyero rattled off, keeping seated looking back and forth from Elphaba to different points of the area they were in.

"If you're as good dancer that does not need lessons then you should be able to dance with just a beat given. I could provide us the beat. There has never been another soul in this area, until today of course, so our secret will be safe. Please Master Tiggular, just a dance," Elphaba smiled sweetly knowing the prince would not be obliging her.

"For Oz's sake, sit down Elphaba. Fine, so you know my little secret. Why would I want it publicized by taking lessons?" Fiyero said taking Elphaba's hand pulling her back to take her seat.

"Because Fiyero, dance lessons are for fun. Even people who know how to dance attend them because there are always new dances to be learned and new ways to do old dances. No one would be the wiser if you and Galinda showed up," Elphaba answered.

"They'll know the first dozen times I squash Galinda's pretty little feet under my two left ones!" Fiyero answer unconvinced.

"Fiyero, listen to me. Galinda knows you can't dance. She knows this would be a very big thing for you to do. This would be you admitting to her in a subtle way that you know you're not perfect but are at least willing to admit it and work on your weaknesses. And that you want her to be a part of that process," Elphaba said knowing Galinda would find it absolutely shocking that he would want to learn how to dance with her. It would be a new side of Fiyero to match the new side of Galinda. It was almost too perfect.

Fiyero sat back thinking on Elphaba's words. She did have a point and she did sound like she knew what she was talking about. Dancing with Galinda was a favorite past time of his and learning how to dance would allow more of that in the future. He thought back to their nights at the bar that Galinda had wanted to dance but he couldn't so she went off to dance with others. Then he had an idea.

"Elphaba, you know how to dance, I saw you dancing with Galinda for a bit," Fiyero looked up at her with a wide smile.

That smile made Elphaba nervous. "Yes, I do. Why? And stop that smiling, you look like a cat about to pounce on a mouse and I for one am no mouse."

"No, no you are not a mouse at all. You are in fact one of the smartest, wittiest, strongest and most confident girls I've ever met," Fiyero said keeping eye contact with Elphaba as he moved off of his chair and onto his knees at Elphaba's feet, taking her hand. "Which is why I need your help and your help alone Elphie. I will make a deal with you. I will take Galinda to this lesson but I need to learn how to dance a little before this class. I don't want to completely embarrass myself and Galinda. In return you can have anything I have to offer."

"Get up off the floor you silly ox," Elphaba said yanking her hand from Fiyero's. She got up from her chair and went behind it leaning against the back of it putting distance between Fiyero and herself. "And what just what do you have that I could possibly want?"

"I honestly don't know Elphaba and you don't need to know now either. If you help me with this I will be indebted to you. You have my word on it," Fiyero said still on his knees looking up at the tall girl. "For some reason Elphaba I trust you. I wouldn't act this way with anyone else but I've had this feeling that you believe in Galinda and I just as much as I do, if not more. I need your help."

Elphaba looked at the boy. He was right that she believed in he and Galinda. Did that matter though if Galinda did not believe? She thought about how happy dancing with this boy had made her in the past and how much it would make her bounce to dance with him how she had wanted to before but couldn't. Maybe this would rekindle things between Fiyero and she? Perfection deserved every chance it could get.

"I know I'm going to regret this…" Elphaba stuck her hand out to Fiyero.

The boys eyes lit up and he jumped up from the floor and went around to give Elphaba a hug. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up off the ground much to her surprise. "Thank you Elphie! Thank you! You won't regret it, I promise. I'll work really hard at it. We'll work around your schedule completely. Anything you say, we'll do."

"Great, let's start with that now then. Put me down!" Elphaba said, trying not to shout.

Fiyero lowered Elphaba and released his hold on her, the smile still on his face. Elphaba looked at him hardly believing this was the same suave, cool prince everyone adored.

"All right. We don't have much time until Friday and from what I hear, you're going to need a lot of work. We will start later tonight after dinner. I will tell Galinda I have to go work on some lab and I will meet you up here," Elphaba said trying to think how she was going to pull off keeping something like this a secret from Galinda Upland of all people. The girl may not appear to be very bright all the time but she could sniff a scheme a mile away.

"Elphie, how are we going to learn to dance in a library? You do need music at some point."

"Yes, at some point, but not at this point. We will work that out when we get to it. What do you say to meeting around eight? Enough time for dinner before, sneak in dancing and then a little free time after."

"That will work for me," Fiyero said extending his hand to Elphaba. "Thank you again Elphie. I know with your help I can't go wrong," Fiyero said as he shook Elphaba's hand and turned to leave her alone again.

Elphaba watched him make his way through the maze and flopped back down in her chair. "Well, at least one of us is confident about this," Elphaba said aloud trying not to think what Galinda would do to her if she found


	6. In Her Dreams

**Chapter 6**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Wicked**

Galinda opened the door to their room expecting to see the green girl where she left her but further along in her book. To her surprise, she came back to an empty room. Galinda looked around for a note or something that Elphaba may have left letting Galinda know where she was. Not seeing anything Galinda started putting her stuff away. She placed the fig bun and cider she had gotten for Elphaba and put it on her desk. Galinda noticed a lot of Elphaba's books were missing and deduced she must have gone elsewhere to continue studying. Elphaba had several secret study spots so Galinda did not think long about trying to find her. Once, she had even seen the girl studying under a bridge as she and Fiyero walked over the stream the bridge crossed over. She giggled as she saw Elphaba try and push herself out of view, keeping as much distance between her and the water as she could.

Galinda sat down on her bed and kicked her legs back and forth thinking about what she could do while she waited for Elphaba to turn up. She looked around and saw that the room was in pretty good order so cleaning it wasn't necessary. Her eyes landed on the pile of books on her desk. It wouldn't kill her to try and study before Sunday. She looked around the room again for anything else to entertain her but came up empty handed.

"All right, just this once," Galinda said aloud as she went over to her desk and cracked open her Ozian History book.

Galinda had been studying for almost an hour when she heard the door behind her creak open. She saw two dark colored eyes glance in and look at her before she saw the rest of Elphaba's head poke in.

"I'm sorry, I must be in the wrong room," Elphaba joked as she saw the blonde girl sitting at her desk with her school book open in front of her. "I was looking for my roommate Galinda Upland but I know on principle she does not read during the weekend until eight o'clock on Sunday evening. Please excuse the interruption." Elphaba started to turn back out of the room when she heard Galinda get up from the desk and walk over to the door.

"Get in here you mean green thing! I was waiting for you with food and drink and you left me high and dry! Who places an order for food and then leaves?" Galinda said sternly to her roommate pulling the girl back into the room before she could escape. Normally she might be angrier with the girl but she needed Elphaba to be in a good state of mind so she could get information out of her. "Now I'm sure you've had your head in a book the whole time you were gone so come over here and eat."

Elphaba let the littler girl pull her to her desk with little resistance. She smiled noticing the mothering side of Galinda coming out again for the second time this day. The girl would definitely be a great mother to some lucky children. Elphaba sat at her desk as Galinda went and poured her some cider to have.

"There you go Elphie, all set," Galinda said setting the glass down for Elphaba. She wanted to out right ask Elphaba if there was any truth to what ShenShen had said but knew she was going to have to go about getting the girl to talk a different way. "So how was your studying?"

Elphaba sensed something was going on with her roommate. There was no way she could know about she and Fiyero all ready! She decided to play with the girl a bit. "What makes you think I was studying?" Elphaba said taking a bite of the bun.

"Well I just assumed since that's what you were doing when I left. I figured you got sick of our room and went to study elsewhere. Am I wrong?" Galinda asked as she started to walk around the room trying to find something to keep her mind occupied while she and Elphaba talked. She couldn't let herself scare the girl.

Elphaba smiled to herself. The girl knew her very well, even her thought process. How was she going to get away with this dance lesson thing? Could she just keep sneaking away to study and get away with it? She didn't want to lie to the girl though. Lying is what always got people into trouble and plus, she just didn't like thinking about lying to Galinda. She looked up to see the girl moving some stuff around on her shelves. How could anyone lie to this girl? She turned back to her food and drank some cider. This was going to take more work than she thought.

Both girls stayed quiet for a bit until Galinda couldn't hold back any longer. "So I talked with ShenShen today."

"You did? That's nice. How are things with her and Pfannee? Did they both recover well?"

"Yes, as a matter a fact, Pfannee and Boq spent the morning out about town," Galinda said finally settling on Elphaba's bed. She grabbed the pillow from the top of the bed and laid down hugging the pillow at the foot of the bed close to Elphaba.

"They did? They must have had a better time last night than we thought. Either that or Boq is wearing her down," Elphaba laughed. "He's a sweet boy just very…persistent."

"Tell me about it. At least he wasn't chasing you around the first three months of school! Poor thing could not take a hint or blatant refusal for that matter. It's nice that he's found someone though. I think they're kind of cute together," Galinda said picturing the couple in her mind.

"They aren't really alike though," Elphaba said trying to picture the two as well. It wasn't coming in as clear for her.

"Well Elphie, sometimes the best couples are two very different people together. They kind of complete each other, you know?" Galinda let her eyes settle on the green girl hoping she hadn't said too much. It was true Galinda really did feel that way but she didn't want the other girl to know what she had been thinking about more recently. With the girl sitting so close to her she started to think less and less of her conversation with ShenShen. The thought of Elphaba using her seemed impossible.

"I guess, but there is something to be said for people who just fit together, you know? Starting out on common ground is a lot easier that starting at two different locations," Elphaba said thinking of the perfect couple again, Fiyero and Galinda.

"I don't think it'd be any fun dating you," Galinda said thinking of the same couple as Elphaba.

Elphaba scrunched her face at Galinda. "Well thank you."

"What? No, I mean I think dating you, Elphie, would be just fine, I mean like you dating yourself would be no fun. Oh Oz that came out wrong again. I mean, I don't think a person would have any fun dating themselves or someone so similar to them that it's like dating themselves," Galinda sputtered out trying to recover from her blundered words.

Elphaba reached over and covered Galinda's lips with her finger. At the contact Galinda stopped any effort in speaking. "Your point is well made, even if it wasn't well said." Elphaba raised her finger off the girl's lips leaving a little tingle where she had touched. "Keep this type of talk up and you won't have to worry about me dating anyone anyway," Elphaba said in a fake hurt voice.

Galinda reached out and slapped Elphaba's leg lightly. "Mean Green you know what I meant and I know you're not hurt so feigning so won't help your cause at all. Besides if it was up to me I'd have dates lined up around the block for you."

Elphaba chuckled and rolled her eyes as she turned back around in her chair and continued eating her fig bun. "Thank you for these by the way. I am sorry I left, I wasn't really thinking."

Regaining what she hoped was coherent thoughts and words this time Galinda smile at her roommate. "I highly doubt that was the problem Elphaba. You're always in thought, you just weren't thinking about me…or fig buns."

Elphaba smirked thinking if Galinda only knew the truth of what had been on her mind when she left the room earlier. "Well, I think I'm going to continue studying if that's all right with you. I have a meeting in the library later tonight and I'd like to get some of this other stuff done before then. Unless there is anything else you want to discuss?"

Galinda thought about asking her about Fiyero but the more she thought about it all, the more ridiculous it seemed. "No Elphie, that's fine. If you don't mind I won't be joining your studying session this time. I may just lay here and rest for a bit before dinner."

Elphaba nodded and smiled at her roommate. She turned back towards her books and opened up the same one she had been trying to complete all day long. Maybe this time she would succeed.

Galinda laid her head down on Elphaba's pillow, shutting her eyes. She found herself taking in her roommate's scent on the pillow. It made her smile and sigh a little. She imagined the pillow was Elphaba and hugged it tighter. Slowly she began to drift off to sleep.

After a few hours Elphaba looked over her shoulder at her napping roommate. At first she couldn't believe what she saw. Galinda was holding her pillow close to her, almost snuggling it. She had such a content look on her face. Like a newborn baby with no cares in the world. Elphaba got the urge to go and lay with her in hopes that she would get the same look on her face. She pictured Galinda and her together, with no worries just happy to be with each other curled up next to each other. She reached her hand out to brush a piece of hair away from Galinda's face that had curled away from the rest of the perfect blonde strands.

Galinda felt someone lightly brush their hand against her temple as they moved a lock of her hair. She didn't want to leave her fantasy yet. She had her green dream girl right where she wanted her. She kept her eyes closed and reached for the hand that was lingering by her still. She wrapped her fingers around the hand and pulled it to her cheek. The hand was smooth and warm against her cheek. It didn't pull away, instead it lightly rubbed circles against Galinda's skin. Galinda smiled and brought the fingers to her lips and kissed softly across the row of flesh. One of the fingers ran across the bottom of her lip. Galinda opened her mouth slightly and ran the very tip of her tongue against the bottom of the finger. At that she heard a gasp. She paused trying to determine if the gasp had come from her or not. Deep down knowing it had not Galinda allowed herself to slow open her eyes. When her view focused there was Elphaba's hand still in hers but drawn away from her lips now. She let her eyes begin to climb up the arm that was attached to the hand until she finally reached what she was most afraid to look at right now. Elphaba's eyes. Her mouth was still open from the release of the gasp but her eyes were clouded with confusion and fear. Galinda couldn't think of anything to say for her actions. What could she say?

Elphaba was trying to catch up with her heartbeat. She knew she should have pulled her hand away when Galinda grabbed it but something wouldn't let her. There wasn't a single word she could use to describe how touching Galinda's face felt to her. She felt her insides actually shake and parts of her start on fire. She was fairly certain at some point she had stopped breathing. It was as though Galinda was still in a dream. She showed no hesitation in her movements. It was like she had wanted this to happen all along, like she knew this girl was going to come into her life. Elphaba was excited but frightened. The problem with a dream is at some point you have to wake up. As she felt Galinda's lips on her fingers and then the moisture of her tongue she knew the dream was about to be shattered. She felt herself take her breath in but she didn't not release it, hoping maybe if she held that breath in, the moment wouldn't end and that reality wouldn't come crashing down on them.

As she watched Galinda's eyes flutter open she had no words in her head let alone coming out of her mouth. What could she say?

A brief look at the clock made the decision of what do easier for Elphaba as it read five past eight. "I…I have to go!" Elphaba shot up from her chair and ran across the room out the door. She ran as fast as her long legs could carry her down the hall and out the building.

Galinda sat stunned on the bed. What had she done?


	7. Lessons Learned

**Chapter 7**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Wicked but am grateful for those who do. **

**A/N: I had some trouble with uploading this story in an easier way to be read when it switches points of view. I'll keep working on it but something is a little screwy on the site.**

_A brief look at the clock made the decision of what do easier for Elphaba as it read five past eight. "I…I have to go!" Elphaba shot up from her chair and ran across the room out the door. She ran as fast as her long legs could carry her down the hall and out the building._

_Galinda sat stunned on the bed. What had she done?_

Elphaba raced through campus, tears stinging her face as they ran down her cheek. "Damn it, damn it, **damn it**!"She finally stopped when she reached the steps of the library. She looked back behind her to make sure Galinda hadn't tried to follow her. She pulled up the collar of her shirt to blotch the black lines the tears made down her face. She knew tending to these would have to wait until later. Until then she was going to have to put up with the fiery sensation. She couldn't keep her thoughts straight. Had Galinda really meant to do that? Maybe she was dreaming of Fiyero? She shut her eyes and took a few deep breaths to try and gather herself. The moment she shut her eyes the vision of Galinda kissing her hand flashed before her. The tears started flowing from her eyes again. How could she let this happen? She practically took advantage of Galinda. There was no way she had willed it to happen right? She couldn't be powerful enough yet to where she could control people's actions. She held her head and rested her forehead on her knees. What made the situation worse were the feelings she felt when Galinda was doing those things to her. For the first time she could identify what she had been feelings little doses of for a while when she was with the girl. _Want_.

"I thought we were meeting inside? I guess I was confused," Fiyero said coming down the steps. He had been waiting in the hidden area he had been in with Elphaba earlier that day. When it got to be twenty after, he started to worry and went to find the girl. When he started down the steps he saw a girl huddled on the bottom steps. Even in the dark it wasn't hard to pick out the green girl.

Elphaba leaned up trying to discreetly wipe the new tears away. She knew if Fiyero saw her face there would be no way to hide the fact she had been crying. "Oh Fiyero, I'm sorry. I got tied up and I was on my way up…"

Fiyero made his way to the girl and saw what looked like black tracks down her face. It looked like it could have been mascara streaks but these were longer and darker. Plus, he was fairly certain Elphaba did not wear make up. "Elphaba, what happened? Are you hurt? Do you need to go to the nurse?" Fiyero asked a little afraid something had happened to the girl on the way to the library in the dark. He started looking around for someone that might have attacked her.

"No Fiyero, I'm fine really. I mean, I know it looks bad but it will go away eventually. It's…" Elphaba even felt silly saying it, "It's my tears."

"Your water allergy," Fiyero nodded knowingly. "Galinda told me about that but I never would have imagined your own tears could do…that," Fiyero said gently pushing Elphaba's hands away that she was using to block her face from him. He looked at the marks and traced one with his finger. Elphaba flinched at the contact so he pulled his hand away.

"Does it hurt?"

"It does sting right now, yes. But it'll be fine," Elphaba said trying to pull herself together and pushing the thoughts of Galinda out of her mind for just a little bit. She had to figure out what to do about Fiyero. "Well, the library is closing soon so it would be pointless to try and make our way up there. We wouldn't accomplishment much anyway. Maybe we should reschedule?"

"Well, I mean we're both here. Unless you'd rather not, you still look a little shaken up. Wait a minute, what happened anyway?" Fiyero asked Elphaba realizing she had dodged his question earlier.

"It was nothing, just stressed about school and stuff. Regular stuff, you know," Elphaba said trying to drop the subject. _This _was definitely not the person to share the situation with. Fiyero and Galinda, she thought, that in itself was a whole other matter.

"If you say so," Fiyero eyed Elphaba but realized she obviously didn't want to discuss it now. "You shouldn't get so worked up about that stuff anyway, you'll ruin that pretty face of yours with stress lines," Fiyero said giving Elphaba a wink.

"Save it for someone who believes your cheap lines Princey," Elphaba laughed at his attempt at being debonair. "These streaks are so much better anyway," Elphaba said sarcastically, pointing to the lines on her face again which hadn't lightened very much yet.

"But it got you laughing which, in my opinion, helps any situation. Now, Miss Elphaba, what do you want to do about our lessons. As I stated, we will work around your schedule. If you have something else you need to attend to, please do not let me keep you from it," Fiyero said earnestly.

Elphaba thought about it. She didn't really want to go back to the room yet and face her roommate and this would maybe help keep her mind off of what had happened in her room. "Why don't we go to that gazebo in the south side of the courtyard? We will be able to use some of the lights around there to see."

"The gazebo it is. And just so you know I'm fighting back saying something along the lines of 'You're not the first girl to want to take me there at night' for your sake. I hope you appreciate the effort on my part," Fiyero said offering his arm to Elphaba.

"I do appreciate the effort, thank you," Elphaba said as she smirked and took his arm. The two made their way along the few paths to the gazebo.

Galinda sat frozen on the bed for a few more minutes. Could she maybe play it off that she was still dreaming? People act out all sorts of crazy things from their dreams all the time! Of course she would have a great time admitting she had been having a sexual dream of some kind. She let out a sigh and got up off Elphaba's bed. She couldn't believe how fast Elphaba had made it out of the room. It was like a snake had just bitten her. 'One did,' she thought to herself. How could she take advantage of Elphaba that way? She knew the girl didn't have any experience in the world of dating or being 'physical' with anyone. It could have only been one person moving her hair but it didn't matter to her subconsciously. Actually, it did matter. A part of her wanted it to be the green girl for real, not just in dream form. The poor girl could have just been trying to wake her up for dinner! Galinda thought about the look she received from Elphaba when she opened her eyes. There wasn't a look of hurt or hatred so that was a step in the right direction. But she had fled as quickly as she could, so that's not a good sign. As Galinda paced back and forth trying to decide what to do a thought struck her. Elphaba had plenty of hiding spots throughout Shiz. What if she didn't come back to the room? What if she wouldn't let Galinda explain at all? She could avoid Galinda all she wanted; she had most of the time when school first started! Galinda had to accept she had made this step and she could either keep going with it and attempt to explain her feelings to Elphaba or play it off as a dream and keep Elphaba as a friend even though she would have to suffer seeing her and wanting more from her. Either way she was going to have to find the girl and find her fast.

Galinda slipped her shoes on, grabbed a cloak and ran out the room in the direction she saw Elphaba head. She realized she didn't know where the girl went to once she got out of the hall. She remembered Elphaba saying she had to study because she had a meeting at the library. She glanced at her watch which showed the library was closing very soon. It was a long shot but it was a place to start. The girl ran over to the library and skidded to a stop as she saw Fiyero taking Elphaba's arm leading her away from the library. "What the hell?"

The couple made their way to the gazebo and Elphaba let go of Fiyero's arm. "Now first we're going to learn the basics of a waltz. There are many adaptations to this for each land so it is usually up to the band or organizer to say which version will be done. I am going to show you the Giliken one so you and Galinda will at least know one of the same versions. First you hold one arm up like this," Elphaba said as she directed Fiyero's arms, "and the other goes here," as she put his hand on her waist.

Naturally Fiyero wanted to step into Elphaba to close the distance between them as he always had in his previous dance experiences.

"Hold on there lover boy, this is a _proper_ dance, with _proper_ stances" Elphaba said pushing Fiyero back to their original distance from each other. "Now for demonstration purposes I will take the lead to show you the steps. When I lead I will put pressure on your waist the direction I need you to go. Try and get a feel for how to do this because this will be your role. We will start by taking the steps very slowly and one by one. Don't get frustrated if you can't remember the steps the first couple times we do this because it is going to take some time and practice. Hopefully we will have enough of both by Friday. Ready?" Elphaba said looking up into Fiyero's eyes.

"Yes Professor Thropp, lead the way…literally," Fiyero smiled ready to watch Elphaba's feet and feel her lead him.

Galinda squatted by the closest set of bushes she could once she saw the couple was staying at the gazebo. She watched as Elphaba took Fiyero and posed him into what looked like a store mannequin. Then she placed herself in a similar position. They were going to be dancing! Galinda watched intently as Fiyero drew Elphaba to him. Galinda fought herself not to pop up and yell at them that very instant but she didn't know who she would be angrier with right now. Then she released both her clenched fists and breath she didn't realize she had been holding when Elphaba pushed him back to how she had them formed. The couple talked a bit then she saw Elphaba moving Fiyero along in what appeared to be a very sad, slow attempt at a waltz. Fiyero's eyes were plastered to Elphaba's feet and instead of stepping he shuffled his feet along in an attempt to mirror Elphaba's actions. Oh Oz, he wasn't kidding about not being able to dance at all. Galinda smiled as she watched them. For the first time she was glad she hadn't pushed Fiyero more to dance with her.

Galinda continued to watch as it looked like Elphaba feared for her feet and took a different approach teaching him the steps. The two stood side by side as Elphaba made a step, Fiyero tried to copy it. This seemed to be working better for both as after a few tries he got the first few movements of the feet down.

Galinda turned away from the gazebo and sat in the grass. What were these two up to? This wasn't making much sense to her but Galinda was getting used to that lately. It didn't seem harmful like anything for her to get in a huff about. She took this moment to think about what she was going to say to Elphaba when she got the chance. She knew she had intense feelings for the girl. Fiyero at one time had sent sparks through Galinda's body but it didn't compare to the inferno Elphaba was starting in her which seemed outrageous considering how little physical contact they have had up to this point. Galinda blushed thinking about the dream she had earlier.

"OW! Owowow.." Elphaba shouted as she hopped to the side of the gazebo and sat on one of the benches inside. Galinda sat back up and turned around to see Elphaba with her eyes winced in pain and her fingers trying to quickly work her bootlaces. Because Elphaba had moved closer, Galinda could see the dark lines down her face. Tears sprang to Galinda's eyes and her hand flew up to her mouth to keep herself from audibly crying. She was sure she had caused those. Through her bleary eyes she watched as Fiyero followed Elphaba over and sat down by where she set her when she finally got her boot off.

"I'm so sorry! I forgot it was left then right. I got the whole foot, didn't I? Here, let me take a look at it," Fiyero said setting her foot on his thigh. "Do you mind if I remove your stockings for a closer look? I'll be able to see if there's swelling or anything."

"Really Fiyero, it's fine, it'll be fine. I would like to stay dressed, thank you." Elphaba started to pull her foot away, wincing but Fiyero held onto it.

"Elphaba it is obviously hurting you, just let me look at it. I promise I will be a gentleman. I won't touch or looking higher than your ankle, okay? I would feel horrible knowing I hurt you and didn't do anything about it," he said looking up at Elphaba. He saw her giving him a partly frustrated and partly suspicious look. "Now, about the stockings, would you like to remove them or shall I do the honors?" Fiyero wiggled his eyebrows and smirked up at Elphaba trying to get her to lighten up again.

Elphaba tried to lift her foot to kick Fiyero but he just laughed and held his hands up in surrender. "I was joking with you, trying to make you feel more comfortable. You look you're ready to attack."

"You are such a dog! I hope no one ever takes you seriously when you put on that smooth act!" Elphaba said trying to swat Fiyero's hands away from her foot. She felt her foot throbbing and decided that she did need to at least look at before she tried walking on it and it was obvious Fiyero wouldn't leave her as she did this. She conceded and leaned forward to slide her stocking off from her foot.

"I kind of like that people don't take me seriously. It makes my life easier. I'd rather be the life of the party than the chaperone all the time," Fiyero said as he looked at Elphaba's foot. He could swear he could almost make out the print of his shoe. He winced and drew in a breath. "I don't suppose rubbing this would help right? More contact probably doesn't help a bruise," Fiyero asked looking up at Elphaba.

"Probably not. This may mean our lesson for this evening has come to an end. You can practice those steps I taught you though. Also, I would recommend borrowing a record of the waltz to practice with in your free time. You can work on your rhythm with the music as well," Elphaba said as she replaced her stocking on her sore foot.

"Yes m'am. I will and for injuring you, I will come back with them perfected, or as perfect as my feet can get them. Sometimes I think they have a mind of their own," Fiyero stood and put his hands out to help lift Elphaba up to her feet. "C'mon, I'll walk you back to your hall. I want to thank you again Elphaba. I can't imagine anyone wanting to help me out like this and not giving me a hard time about it. And let's not forget the fact you're willing putting yourself at risk of a serious injury." Fiyero chuckled holding her hands.

"Oh please, you'd have a gaggle of screaming women at your door the second you asked them for help, injury or no injury," Elphaba said as she steadied herself on her sore foot. "I'm just…lucky?" she answered with a questioning look.

"I am the lucky one Elphie. Let's get you home and take care of that so you like to dance another day."

Fiyero put his arm around Elphaba's waist supporting her weight. She wrapped her arm over his shoulder and started to slowly put weight on her foot. Fiyero watched her face attentively looking for further signs of pain. He felt a little better when it appeared she was going to be able to walk with little assistance. He kept his arm around her just in case.

Galinda listened to the couple talking. She was surprised to find out Fiyero had asked Elphaba to show him how to dance. Why wouldn't he have asked her? What surprised her more was didn't feel all that jealous. She really was getting over the enchantment that Fiyero always brought around with him. She continued to listen to Fiyero argue with Elphaba about checking her foot. He wanted to remove her stocking but she wouldn't let him. Of course she wouldn't Galinda thought and smiled, she's a proper lady. Then she watched in disbelief as Elphaba slipped her stocking off and brought her foot back up to Fiyero. 'That tramp!' Galinda huffed. 'He better not lay a hand on her.' She felt as though flames were shooting out her eyes as she watched Fiyero run his hand over Elphaba's foot, inspecting the area he had trampled. What made it worse was to look up and see Elphaba laughing at his stupid jokes. 'How in Oz does he fit her type. He's the exact opposite!' As she thought those words, she remembered her earlier conversation with Elphaba, _"…sometimes the best couples are two very different people together"_. She had been meaning her and Elphaba, not Fiyero and Elphaba!

'That's it!' Galinda thought. Confused or not confused, she had to at least approach Elphaba about what she was feeling towards her. She walked quickly from behind the bush she was hiding from and started to make her way back to their room before Fiyero and Elphaba.


	8. The Talk

**Chapter 8**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked.**

Last chapter...'_That's it!' Galinda thought. Confused or not confused, she had to at least approach Elphaba about what she was feeling towards her. She walked quickly from behind the bush she was hiding from and started to make her way back to their room before Fiyero and Elphaba._

Galinda raced back to their dorm room. Once inside the room she sat down on her bed to catch her breath. How was she going to do this? It had gotten late and maybe it wouldn't help her if she tried to engage Elphaba in this conversation right now. She didn't want to let the whole thing be ignored though. She had to keep it in Elphaba's mind. Galinda got an idea but she had to act quickly. She ran into the bathroom to do a rushed version of her bed time preparations. Then she came back out and sat at her desk grabbing some of her pink, scented paper and her pen.

After a few minutes of writing, Galinda folded the piece of paper, lightly kissed it for luch and placed it on Elphaba's pillow. She climbed into bed saying a silent prayer to Lurlina and shut her eyes. She knew she wasn't really going to sleep but she had to at least look it for when Elphaba came in, which should be shortly. She let out a deep sigh and hoped for the best as she waited.

Elphaba and Fiyero made small talk on the way back to her hall. Mostly they talked about classes and other students. As they reached the door Elphaba let go of Fiyero's arm and turned to face him.

"Thanks for walking me home it was actually pleasant," Elphaba said.

Fiyero laughed. "I aim to please. Glad it wasn't as horrible as you anticipated."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It was a nice evening in general. Thank you. And I should leave now before I stick my foot in my mouth again." Elphaba laughed nervously trying not to fidget with her hands.

"Yeah, you shouldn't do that, you're foot has been through enough trauma tonight," Fiyero winked at her, "Thank you again Elphaba. Shall we meet at the gazebo tomorrow night, same time?"

"Yes, I think that will work. I'll see you then." Elphaba gave him a smile as she made her way up the stairs, trying not to draw attention to her foot that still hurt a little. She turned back when she got to the doors and was surprised to see Fiyero still standing there waiting. He gave her a wave and headed off toward his housing.

Elphaba made her way up to her room. If she was lucky Galinda would be asleep and she could put off dealing with that whole issue until tomorrow. She paused outside of their door to collect herself in case Galinda had waited up for her. Elphaba inched the door open to see a dark room except for the light by her bed. Galinda must have left that lit for her to make her way through the room unharmed. Elphaba smiled thinking of Galinda's thoughtfulness. Elphaba silently shut the door behind her and quietly made her way over to her dresser. She took a moment to look over at the sleeping form in the bed across the room. Galinda was turned away from Elphaba's bed but she could see the girl breathing steadily and deeply. Elphaba turned and changed for bed and slid under her covers. She reached over to blow out the light out when she caught a hint of Galinda's perfume in the air. Elphaba rolled her eyes as she looked at her pillow, which she was certain was the culprit of the scent from its earlier encounter with Galinda. There she found a piece of folded pink paper. She reached down and pulled herself over to the lamp to see her roommate's loopy handwriting. Elphaba got herself settled and started to read the letter.

_My Dear Elphie,_

_There are so many things I want talk with you about but I decided that tonight might not be the best time. I hope your time away this evening gave you a chance to collect your thoughts about what happened earlier and time to recover from obvious shock. First, I do apologize for frightening you. Please know that I didn't mean to hurt you in any way and I will understand if you are hurt or confused but I would love if we could discuss some things over breakfast tomorrow morning. If you are not ready to talk about anything I can only hope you will at least give me the chance to explain some things to you. Know that you are very important to me and it's just as important to me that we work some things out._

_Fresh dreams Elphie,_

_Galinda_

Elphaba put the letter down on the table by her lamp. Slowly she got up from her bed and walked over to her slumbering roommate. She looked down at the girl and sighed sadly.

"What am I going to do with you Glin?" Elphaba said as she kissed the sleeping girl's head. "Fresh dreams Galinda."

Elphaba went back to her bed and blew out the lamp.

Galinda opened her eyes and smiled when she heard Elphaba settle back down in her bed. One word flashed in her head. '_Hope_.'

Galinda awoke the next morning with a smile all ready on her face. She had a very interesting dream involving the girl still sleeping in the bed across the way. The more she thought about a relationship with Elphaba the more it appealed to her and intrigued her. She got up from her bed and put on her robe as she headed to the bathroom. She quickly washed up and put her hair up in a pony tail. She wanted to run down to the café and grab breakfast before Elphaba woke up. She grabbed her bag and looked back quickly to make sure the girl was still asleep. She headed down to the café and grabbed two plates tossing a mixture of her and Elphaba's favorite foods on them. Galinda started to head upstairs when she heard someone calling her name from across the room.

"Galinda!" Fiyero yelled out. "Good morning!"

Galinda let out a slightly irritated sigh but turned back towards Fiyero with a smile. "Hello! Good morning yourself! How are you feeling? I didn't hear from you yesterday at all. Didn't feel too well after Friday night?"

"No, no I was fine I just had a lot of errands and things to take care of. How are you doing? Taking you breakfast meal in your room today?"

"Yes actually," Galinda said "Elphie is still sleeping and I thought I'd surprise her. She was out awfully late last night. She must be recovering from her activities." Galinda said teasing Fiyero, unbeknownst to him.

"Late, huh? So Miss Elphaba has more of a night life than we knew of. Very curious, indeed," Fiyero said with a smile. "Maybe the library has started late night hours for her pleasure."

"Maybe, but who knows with Elphaba, right? Lately she's been full of surprises," Galinda said sweetly. "Well, I should get back before she wakes up. Is there a chance I could see you this evening? Maybe around, say, eight o'clock?"

"Eight o'clock, huh? Well actually I've got plans around that time. What if we meet earlier? For dinner maybe?"

"Okay, I'll see if Elphie would like to join us as well. Seven o'clock for dinner then, meet you down here. We'll see you then," Galinda said leaning over giving a perplexed Fiyero a kiss on the cheek.

Galinda chuckled on her way back to the room. They must have another evening planned. She told herself she wasn't being mean or anything, she was just having a bit of fun with two of her favorite people. This way she could see if they were hiding their meetings from her without them knowing she all ready knew. It was going to be interesting an evening if this morning wasn't.

Galinda came into the room and grinned when she saw Elphaba still curled up in her bed. She had so far succeeded in her plan. She set the tray of plates on her desk and walked over to the side of Elphaba's bed. Galinda was more excited than nervous to talk to Elphaba now but she knew she should let the girl sleep. It was best not to deal with grumpy, morning Elphaba any time.

She went over to her desk and tried to occupy her time. At first she doodled in her notebooks, then she went through to find if she had any readings to do later tonight. Finally she couldn't sit still any longer. She decided to _encourage_ Elphaba to get up. Quietly she ripped the page she had doodled on out of her notebook. She tore off part of the page and crumpled it up into a tiny ball. With her tongue out in concentration, she lobbed the ball at Elphaba's head. She missed as it hit her pillow and fell off the bed. She tore another corner off and tried again. This one was a little closer but went above her head and rolled to rest on top of her head. Galinda giggled to see the wad of paper stay there in the mass of dark locks. For a third try she lobbed a piece over and threw her hands up in celebration as it hit Elphaba square in the cheek. Galinda's celebrating died down when Elphaba did not wake up.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Galinda threw her head back and sighed.

From the other side of the room she heard a small laugh and then felt a piece of paper hit her chest.

"Elphie! You mean green thing! You were faking this whole time?" Galinda said going over and sitting next to her on her bed.

Elphaba continued laughing. "Not the whole time but I did notice your first shot was way off."

"It was not _way_ off, just a little far. How long were you going to lay there and make me suffer?"

"I don't know. I guess it's good I got up now though, who knows what you would have attempted next to wake me up," Elphaba said with a mischievous smile.

"Miss Elphaba, if I didn't know any better I'd swear you were flir…" Galinda grinned.

"You brought breakfast up?" Elphaba said cutting off the other girl, throwing her covers off, getting out of bed.

"Oh…yeah, I grabbed some stuff from downstairs. Nothing special, I just thought this might work better for us to talk more…openly?"

Elphaba went over and plucked a grape off of the bunch on the plate and popped it in her mouth on the way to the bathroom. "Yes, of course. That's a good idea. Give me one minute and I'll be ready."

"Okay," Galinda said making her way over to the plates. She started picking at a few things but decided she wasn't really in the mood to eat quite yet. She had most of what she wanted to say to Elphaba worked out in her head, she just hoped she could have it all make sense to the girl. She was going to be honest and open about it all and then maybe the two of them could work it out together. She sat down on her bed and waited for Elphaba

Elphaba came out of the bathroom, glasses on and hair in a pony tail and grabbed the plate with more fruit on it and sat back down on her bed. "Okay Galinda, you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes I did. First, I want to apologize again for scaring you yesterday, I didn't mean to do that at all. I…"

"What did you mean to do?"

Galinda was taken aback by the quick question. She took in a breath and remembered she was going to be honest. "Well, I had been dreaming," Galinda continued a little flushed, "and I felt a bit in between awake and asleep. I knew I was waking up but I was fighting to keep the dream going."

Elphaba nodded. "I figured as much or at least something like that."

Galinda continued, "So when I felt your hand I, well, kept it going a little longer until I fully woke up."

"Got it. I think I understand and I don't want you to worry. I didn't read into it or anything," Elphaba said trying to block the fact that she had only wished into it.

"You didn't read into it? What do you mean by that Elphie?" Galinda said thinking Elphaba meant she knew it was a one time thing.

"I understand that it wasn't me that you were dreaming of so I won't be weirded out by the continuation part. I probably scared you just as equally when you saw it was me."

The confusion started to lessen for Galinda. "You thought I was dreaming about Fiyero and that I pictured your hand as Fiyero's hand."

"Well yes, of course," Elphaba said her confusion still hanging around.

This was a part Galinda was actually nervous about. She was hoping to work her way up to this but Elphaba had cut things short. "I was dreaming about someone else Elphie, not Fiyero. Someone that has become more important in my life recently and lately I've been feeling like I want to spend more time with them and get to know them…better in a more than 'just friends' way."

Galinda looked up to see Elphaba looking at her intently. She swallowed trying to clear whatever she felt blocking her throat from saying more. She looked down and smoothed out her skirt nervously. "That person, Elphie, is you," she said looking back at the girl.

Elphaba dropped the piece of melon she had just picked up. She was expecting a few things that would make her uncomfortable to come up in this conversation but nothing of this caliber. Deep down she was thrilled but on the surface she was frightened.

"But Fiyero…"

"Elphie," Galinda laughed trying to lighten the mood, "I just told you I liked you and the first thing you think about is Fiyero?"

"Well I think it's pretty understandable since he's your _boyfriend_," Elphie replied looking down at the plate of food. She didn't feel hungry anymore.

"Oh Elphie, don't worry about Fiyero, I'll take care of him just as I said I would before. I told you, I'm not interested in him like that anymore. What I'm more concerned about is us Elphie. I'm assuming you don't hate me now or anything."

"Don't be silly, of course I don't hate you," Elphie said trying to get her thoughts straight. This was of course great news for her but she couldn't help but feel sorry for Fiyero. This was something Galinda was going to have to handle and it sounded like she had made her decision. Now she just had to figure out if this was indeed what she wanted.

Galinda tried to sit patiently as she could tell Elphie was in deep thought. She kept glancing up at Elphaba, twiddling her thumbs and moving her lips from side to side, forcing them to stay shut for now.

After a few minutes of silence Elphaba looked up at the blonde. Galinda gave her a nervous smile back. "Well if you don't hate me, is there a possibility you could like me?"

"I think…are you sure about this?"

"As sure as I can be," Galinda said thinking back to when she had decided to do something about her feelings. When she saw Fiyero and Elphaba dancing she knew she wanted to be in Fiyero's place. "I know that I can't think about you being with anyone else without wanting to pull every little hair off the top of their head, which is just not right or like me. I'm sure I think more about what you would say about something I did or said more than ShenShen or Pfannee or anyone else," Galinda paused for a second taking in a slow breath before she continued, "I know the few times you've allowed me to get close to you I can feel tingles all over my body."

Elphaba smiled hearing the 'tingles' part. She knew what Galinda was talking about because she felt them too.

"Well that's a relief," Elphaba said giving the other girl a smile.

Galinda looked at her, puzzled. "That I'm sure?"

"Well that and I thought I was coming down with something every time I felt those shivers but if you felt them too then I don't need to see the nurse," Elphaba said trying to contain her smile.

Galinda sat shocked for a moment, her mouth open a little. Then she ran over to Elphaba, removing her plate from her hands, pulled her up and wrapped her arms around her, leaning her head on Elphaba's chest.

Elphaba stood for a moment feeling the sudden burst of warmth that creeped onto her body. She wrapped her lanky arms around Galinda's waist. She didn't feel natural doing this but as she felt tiny kisses by her shoulder and a contented sigh she knew she could definitely get used to it. Elphaba then shut her eyes and returned the tiny kisses on the blonde head by her chin, sighing as well.


	9. Found Out?

**A/N: I know it's been awhile and I am sorry about that. I've been working on a few other pieces and I didn't want this one to suffer because I rushed through it. I have a short update to be followed up soon with a longer one. Thank you for the reviews and I hope I didn't lose you all during this break.**

**Chapter 9**

_Elphaba stood for a moment feeling the sudden burst of warmth that creeped onto her body_. She wrapped her lanky arms around Galinda's waist. _She didn't feel natural doing this but as she felt tiny kisses by her shoulder and a contented sigh she knew she could definitely get used to it. Elphaba then shut her eyes and returned the tiny kisses on the blonde head by her chin, sighing as well._

"Mmmm..that feels just as nice as it did last night," Galinda mumbled into Elphaba's chest.

Elphaba pulled back with a stunned look on her face. "Speaking of fakers! You were awake last night?"

Galinda giggled and looked up at Ephaba, keeping her arms around her waist. "Well, yes but I wasn't going to bother you then. I was trying to be good. I had no idea you were going to come over and kiss me good night, not that I minded at all or will mind in the future."

Elphaba sighed again, this time more out of defeat than anything else, and shook her at the girl beaming up at her. "Have you ever not gotten your way before?" Elphaba laughed at the adorable girl.

"Well, sometimes I think I don't get my way but then it works out for me in the end," Galinda said finally releasing Elphaba as her stomach began to protest the food strike she had put it on so far this morning.

"Us rooming together being an example?" Elphaba asked as she went back to her plate of food.

"Absolutely," Galinda agreed bringing her plate over to her bed, facing Elphaba, "Not that I could have imagined something as great as this but I should have known it would work out," she said with a smile popping a grape into her mouth.

"You're certain this is going to be great?" Elphaba asked, uncertainty masking her face.

"I do Elphie, I really do. I know it'll take some time but you can feel it!" Galinda said looking up at Elphaba. "Can't you?"

"In all honesty, I don't know what I feel exactly but I'm giving this a shot for the simple fact I feel _something_ for the first time," Elphaba said gathering the food things around her and putting them back on the tray.

Galinda took the opportunity and got up from the bed and followed Elphaba to the table. She came up behind her and wrapped her arms around Elphaba. She shut her eyes and leaned her cheek on the firm back of the taller girl. There was a little distance between her body and Elphaba's but what space there was, was filled with the heat coming from both of them. Elphaba stood motionless for a few moments getting used to the feeling of the smaller body against her own. She swore she could feel the beat of Galinda's heart against her back. Focusing on that feeling alone, Elphaba reached down and placed her hands over the tiny ones at her waist. Elphaba felt a coat of warmth slide over her body starting from her waist spreading both up through her chest and down her body. Naturally her breathing fall into place with Galinda's, as Galinda's chest rose and fell against Elphaba's back.

"How do you do that?" Elphaba whispered.

A small smile crept over Galinda's mouth. "I don't think it's just me," she said, knowing Elphaba was referring to this feeling between them. A funny thought entered her head. "Just think what it'll be like to do more than just hug."

The green girl felt her face get flushed at the thought. "Oz help me when we get to that."

Galinda giggled and released her hold on Elphaba giving her a kiss where she had been resting. Then she turned her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Well, I think I should take this tray back down and you should go about and do your Elphie things that you need to do. We'll talk later," Galinda said as she gathered their breakfast stuff up. "Oh, I almost forgot! We're going to have dinner with Fiyero!"

Elphaba stopped dead in her tracks on her way to her desk. She felt that warm feeling she just had be replaced with a slight chill knowing she'd have to deal with Fiyero tonight at least. "I don't think I'll be able to attend Glin. I have plans tonight."

"Oh don't worry, so does Fiyero. Are you free around seven?" Galinda replied watching her roommate intently, hoping she would just tell Galinda the truth.

"Seven? I suppose I could do seven, yes," Elphaba said rummaging through things on her desk trying to decide whether or not to tell Galinda about the dance lessons. "But wouldn't you maybe like to talk to Fiyero first? Alone?"

Galinda thought about it. She did owe it to Fiyero to tell him it was over as soon as possible. And she was being sort of wicked putting Elphaba on the spot like this.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. I'll just tell him you were unable to attend because of a prior engagement." Galinda said picking up the tray. "You won't be gone all evening, will you?"

Elphaba smiled as she tossed her bag over her shoulder. "Why, you gonna miss me?"

Galinda's brilliant smile shone brightly at Elphaba. "Why Miss Elphaba, I think you're flirting with me."

Elphaba just continued to smile and opened the door for Galinda. Galinda bowed her head slightly in thanks and carried the tray out the door. The two walked in silence down the steps of their dormitory. When it came time for them to their separate ways they both looked up at each other.. Neither was really sure how to make their first goodbye together but knowing it would be different from now on.

Elphaba reach out and placed her hand over Galinda's on the tray. "I'll be home before you go to dinner." At that she left Galinda and made her way down the staircase leading outside. Galinda watched her go. Just as Elphaba was making her way out the door, Galinda whistled at her. Elphaba looked up flushed in time to see Galinda give her a wink before she turned to go the café. Elphaba shook her head and continued on her way.

While seemingly fun and harmless, this interaction did not go unnoticed by another student making their way down the hall. "Curious, very curious."


	10. The Break Up

**Chapter 10**

After what she considered a very productive afternoon in the library, Elphaba made her way back to her room. She took the time to take the long way through the grassy field area this time. She took this time to reflect on her situation with Galinda. It did feel good. It did feel right. To her. But was it the right thing for them? She didn't want to jump into the relationship simply because it was there for her taking but at the same time she should give it a chance. Trying to push herself to think positively about this and moving forward with her thoughts, she tried to figure out how the two could actually date like a regular couple. Oz was progressive but that did not mean all Shiz students came from progressive families. She assumed Galinda knew this would be virtual suicide for her reputation. Elphaba took a second to smile at that thought. 'She knows and doesn't care. She doesn't care because she cares about me more than them.' If Elphaba was one for skipping, this would be a moment to do so. She added a little hop to a few steps but went about her way in her normal stride.

Elphaba took the steps to her room two at a time and took a moment to catch her breath outside her door. She opened the door and walked in to find an empty room. Her hear sank a little bit until she heard a high pitched voice from the bathroom.

"Elphie? Is that you?"

"Nope, just some crook coming to rob you of all your shoes. Pay no attention to me."

"If you enjoy your body being in one piece you will leave the shoes alone. Take all the books you want though. I'm sure my studious roommate has some of value on her side."

Elphaba laughed and set her books down on her desk and turned in time to receive a kiss on the cheek from the giggly blonde. "Did you enjoy your library time?"

"Of course did you enjoy your…Galinda time?" Elphaba said looking around the room for a clue as to what Galinda may have been doing while she was gone. Not seeing any obvious answer she looked back at her grinning roommate. "What have you been doing exactly?"

"It's a surprise and don't you worry your pretty, little, green head about it."

"You know telling someone that you're working on a surprise only makes them curious and ask more questions. If you really wanted to keep it a surprise you wouldn't say anything about it being a surprise."

Galinda stared back at Elphaba blankly. "But then how can you get excited about it if you don't know you're going to get a surprise?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes and sighed as she sat down on her bed. "So you want me to get excited and ask you all sorts of questions about it and ask you every chance I can when I'm going to get the surprise?"

"Well of course silly! Why else would I tell you?" Galinda said settling in her chair next to her bed.

Elphaba started to answer but thought better of it. "Okay. So what is it?"

"Guess."

"If I had a guess I wouldn't be asking Glin."

"But what would be the point of me just telling you? Honestly Elphie, you act as if you've never done this before. And I like my nickname."

"I didn't know there were set rules to getting surprises. My family must have forgotten to go over those with me. And what nickname?"

Galinda decided to let the talk of the surprise go for now. "'Glin', you've been calling me that sometimes."

Elphaba thought about it. "I hadn't noticed but I guess you're right. So, it's all right with you? It's actually the first nickname I've given anyone. My sister was called Nessa by my father so I didn't really give her that..."

"I think it's lovely," Galinda said, cutting Elphaba off before she analyzed things too much again.

"Oh, well good."

The two fell into a silence for a moment. Galinda looked up at the clock on the wall to see that it was almost time for her to leave for dinner.

"So if you're not coming down with me, when are you going to eat dinner?"

"I snacked while I was studying. If I'm hungry later I'll just eat some more of my snack food."

"Well now it's no mystery why you're so skinny! I guess it helps when you eat nothing but nuts and berries."

"It's more than nuts and berries. You make me out to sound like a squirrel."

"Well squirrel or not, I couldn't skip a meal when I wanted like you can. Eating that mix of yours would just make me hungrier." Galinda said getting up and going to her closet to pick out shoes for dinner.

"Well you don't need to skip meals anyway so you don't need to worry about anything like that."

Galinda turned to face Elphaba with her head tipped to one side. "Was that a compliment Miss Elphaba?"

"You know if you question all my actions like this they are going to happen less and less." Elphaba said trying to limit her self conscience self.

Galinda quickly made her way over to the bed. "Oh Elphie I'm sorry. Please don't stop giving compliments or flirting or anything you feel like doing. Except being mean, maybe you could limit that a bit. But I promise I won't question, I'll just take what I can get."

"And I'll give what I can. You have to at least let me be mean enough to keep my mean green reputation."

Galinda took Elphaba's hand. "Deal. Now I should go so I'm not late for dinner." She gave Elphaba's hand a squeeze and got up to put on her shoes. "So I'll see you later after your plans then?"

"Definitely. Are you going to be okay? With the whole Fiyero thing?"

"I'm sure it will be a little upsetting but it's for the best. The sooner the better. I shouldn't have put it off this long."

"Okay well…good luck?" Elphaba said with a shrug. What does one wish someone who was off to break someone's heart?

Galinda gave her a small smile and went over and hugged Elphaba. "He'll be fine. You'll see, it will all be for the better." Galinda kissed the top of her head and walked to the door. She turned back and gave Elphaba a small wave as she left.

Elphaba looked around the room. She didn't really have anything planned until her lesson with Fiyero. She went over to Galinda's side of the room and looked around. Most of the things were girlie products that Galinda used believing it helped her keep her skim smooth and clear. Other things were for her hair so it would shine and curl how she wanted. A few of the bottles contained the liquid she spritzed herself with so she could smell like a flower. Amidst these items Elphaba found a book.

'What is this doing over here?' Elphaba thought and laughed looking at the cover. "How to Be Popular?" 'Oh this might be worth reading,' Elphaba thought flopping into Galinda's chair and flipping the book to the first page.

Elphaba was just about finished with the book when she glanced up at the clock. She had been reading for nearly 45 minutes. She gave her head a shake to wake herself up and pull her mind out of the alternative world Elphaba had stepped into when she picked up her roommate's book.

'Wow, if these are some sort of guidelines she lives by, I don't think I'm going to be too jealous of her anymore,' Elphaba thought as she returned the book to its spot.

She went around to her side of the room and put on her shoes. Elphaba was certain Fiyero would not want to really have a lesson tonight so hopefully she could be back early and she could spend more time with Galinda.

She left the room and locked the door behind her. As she walked to the gazebo she hoped Fiyero wasn't horribly broken up over losing Galinda. She couldn't begin to imagine how he would react if he found out that she was Galinda's new interest. Elphaba laughed when she thought about how different Galinda's choices of 'interests' were. If you wanted two complete opposites, you couldn't find a more different pair than Elphaba and Fiyero.

As the gazebo come into view she saw someone was all ready sitting down on the benches inside. Elphaba slowed down until she could make out Fiyero's profile.

He had his elbows resting on his knees and his hands clasped together, staring down at the ground. The look on his face wasn't one of sadness or anger, just one of contemplation.

Elphaba stepped up into the interior of the gazebo and sat down next to Fiyero. "Hello."

Fiyero looked up and gave Elphaba a small smile. "Hey. So Professor, are you ready to teach again?"

Elphaba, who was expecting to be dismissed at this point, tried to cover up her shock. "If the student is ready to learn, then yes."

"Well let's get to it then!"

Elphaba was impressed at how much he had improved just overnight. It definitely wasn't perfect but Elphaba's toes and feet stayed intact tonight. They went over the steps from the waltz the covered the night before and she went on to show him another dance with similar steps so he could work on both some old and new. After about two hours the couple decided to call it a night.

"Well, you are a quick learner if nothing else. I can't believe you couldn't learn these dances before now." Elphaba said as they headed back to her hall.

"Well maybe I had a better teacher this time." Fiyero said, continuing to look at his feet as he walked.

"Are you okay? You seem a bit down?" Elphaba said trying to ignore the flush in her face from the compliment.

"Oh I'm fine. Just a little preoccupied I guess. I'll be back to my old form tomorrow, don't worry." Fiyero said giving her a smile and bumping into her a little bit.

"Oh don't get me wrong, this quiet, calm Fiyero is kind of nice to deal with," Elphaba said grinning back.

"Well I think you would miss the old Fiyero if he was gone too long. Admit it Elphie, you like me more than you thought you would. At least you can tolerate me more than you thought you would be able to."

"I refuse to admit such a thing," Elphaba said reaching the bottom of her steps. "So, we're continuing tomorrow then?" Elphaba asked a little confused. Maybe Galinda didn't have the heart to tell him at dinner if he was all ready this down.

"Absolutely! Maybe earlier though because it's a school night? I know how you fret about such trivial things."

"All right, how about seven then?"

"Seven it is. Thank you again for doing this Elphaba. I really appreciate it. Have a good evening." Fiyero said with a bow.

Elphaba just nodded her head and went up the stairs. Just as he did the night before, Fiyero waited for her to make it inside the doors before heading back to his hall.


	11. A Real Good Night

**Chapter 11**

Disclaimer still in place. I've redone a few things on this chapter as well. I noticed a few odd spots and hopefully I helped smooth it out. Now to our girl in green.

* * *

Elphaba made her way back up to her room to find out what happened at dinner. Upon entering the room, she saw Galinda at her desk scribbling on a piece of paper. She looked up and smiled at Elphaba as she shut the door.

"Hi Elphie!" Galinda chirped turning her attention to her roommate.

"Hello yourself! So, how did dinner go?" Elphaba said moving over to sit on Galinda's bed.

"It went fine enough. A lot of talking. He seemed pretty okay. We hugged at the end. He wants to make sure we can all still hang out as friends," Galinda said coming over to sit next to Elphaba. "It went a lot better than I anticipated. He's probably got the next girl lined up anyway."

"Huh…" Elphaba answered trying to hide her immense amount of confusion.

"What's wrong?" Galinda asked looking over at Elphaba'a perplexed face.

"Nothing, I guess I just thought he would have been a little more broken up about it too," Elphaba said trying to push Fiyero out of her mind for the time being. "I mean he was dating the most popular girl in school. I'd be broken up about losing that," Elphaba added with a smile.

"Oh please Elphaba, you'd probably like me more if I wasn't popular. Then I'd stay home and study more. Actually, that would probably turn you on more than anything else I could come up with," Galinda said giggling.

"That is not true! You can be as popular as you want to be and as social as you want to be and it's totally fine with me," Elphaba said reaching over and taking Galinda's hands in hers. "Just don't try and drag me to everything," She said with a grin. "And I liked dancing with you the other night."

"Oh, Elphie, you just wait. You'll enjoy going to things too. I do go to places you would like to go as well like museums, art shows, concerts, dances and all sorts of other places. I won't drag you to everything, dearest, but I will request your company at some things." Galinda said rubbing her thumb over parts of Elphaba's hands. "And more dancing can definitely be arranged. And if remember correctly, you still owe me some dancing demonstrations."

After having just danced with Fiyero earlier and now trying to keep her thoughts away from what was going on with him, dancing was the last thing Elphaba wanted to do right now. "Will you take a rain check on that? It is getting late."

"I suppose but if you keep dodging this I'm going to think you were bluffing, you mean green thing," Galinda said with a smirk knowing full well that Elphaba could dance well having seen it first hand.

Elphaba patted Galinda's hands and went to the bathroom to get cleaned up for bed.

Elphaba was more than just mildly confused now. Why would Fiyero want to keep taking lessons from her? Why wouldn't he say anything to her about Galinda just dumping him? She felt torn about spilling everything to Galinda and having the two work together to figure out just what Fiyero was doing and confronting Fiyero on her own. She didn't want Galinda to be upset about her doing this in the first place even when she knew Galinda had intentions of breaking up with him. She should just wait to see what happens with Fiyero. Maybe he still just wants to learn to dance for the next girl, as Galinda had said, and was trying to take his mind off of Galinda at the time so he didn't mention it to her. She shouldn't get Galinda all upset if she didn't need to be.

"Elphie?" Galinda called from the other room.

Elphaba was staring in the mirror still in thought as she answered back. "Yes?"

"Did you have a good time at your thing?" Galinda asked grinning, glad Elphaba could not see her.

That brought Elphaba back. "Yes. Yes, I did. I'm sure much more fun than you had at dinner," Elphaba said. "It's probably one of the last times I'll have to go. So, what are your plans tomorrow evening?" Elphaba asked wanting to change the subject before Galinda investigated more.

"Well considering it is a school night, probably just studying. Unless you had other plans?"

"Nothing set right now, no. Maybe we could do something? Dinner? Walk around campus? Trip to the library?"

"If that's what you wish, I would love to," Galinda said thinking about the two of them curling up together doing something. Even the library would be more fun with Elphaba.

After she finished cleaning up and getting ready for bed, Elphaba came back in the room to find Galinda under her covers in bed. "Wow, I thought it'd take more coaxing to get you into bed tonight," Elphaba said tying her hair back again. She watched as Galinda's eyebrows shot up and a mischievous grin crossed her face. "Oh I didn't mean like that and you know it."

Galinda quirked an eyebrow at Elphaba, "Why Miss Elphie, did you have something else in mind for us to try tonight?" Galinda asked as her watched her roommate make her way across the room.

"Well I'd hate to trouble you to get out of bed so I'll just wait for a time later to show you this thing I learned in the library earlier, you'd be shocked at the kind of books Shiz keeps in dark corners of libraries. Such subjects are usually discussed behind closed doors," Elphaba said walking over to her bed, lifting her covers, "Well actually, you'd be thrilled, others would be shocked."

Galinda looked over at Elphaba and then back down at her covers. Elphaba watched her as these actions repeated themselves a few more times.

"Everything alright over there?" Elphaba asked, trying to keep from laughing at the poor girl.

"You were….you are joking, right?" Galinda asked, unsure of exactly what to do.

Elphaba just smiled back at her. For a second she thought about continuing her charade a bit longer but knew Galinda was honestly torn about what to do. She would have normally felt a little triumphant getting someone to believe her when she was teasing them.

It was those eyes of Galinda's. That pouting look and those deep blue eyes that Elphaba fell victim to and was sure she would continue to. Elphaba put her covers back down and went over to Galinda's bed and sat on the edge of it, next to its occupant.

"Yes, I was joking. I'm a little surprised you didn't bound over there or anything," Elphaba said looking into those excited blue eyes across from her.

"Well, I just don't want to push you too much Elphie. Oz knows I was corrupted long ago, but there's still hope for your innocence," Galinda said nudging her a little with her shoulder.

"What…you…you had?"

"Oh no Elphie, not yet," Galinda said giggling a little. "I'm not that kind of girl. If you want advice in that department talk to ShenShen," Galinda said laughing.

"Really? Well, that I wouldn't have expected of her either. And actually, I'm quite all right with knowing no more than that, thank you. So by corrupted you mean what exactly?" Elphaba asked scooting herself a little more onto the bed to get more comfortable.

"Well, I know about stuff even if I haven't done much. Very few boys have even been allowed the privilege of meeting these lips, much less any other part of me. But as you know, I like to talk. And girls, well, most girls, talk of such things they've heard or done in those matters."

"I see. Well, thank you for clearing that up. I guess we never had talked about specifics before now, have we?"

"No, I tried to keep our conversations before to a low Elphie blush rate but I want you to know that you can ask me anything. Depending on the topic, I may not know the answer, but if it's about me I will do my best to answer and ease any of your concerns."

"That helps a bit more," Elphie said as she turned to move back to her bed. "Thank you."

"Not so fast there Elphie, get back here," Galinda said as she grabbed Elphaba's hand before she could remove herself from the cozy bed. "I may not get to ravish you yet but I don't see a reason for me not to get a proper good night. Unless you have one?"

Elphaba grinned. "I do not."

She leaned over and gave the blonde a hug, breathing in her clean, powdery scent she always had right after she bathed. Elphaba leaned back to look at Galinda. Galinda brought her hand up and ran her fingers down Elphaba's cheek. "You are beautiful, you know that?"

Elphaba smirked and rolled her eyes. "Yes, as beautiful as a weed, or a piece of broccoli is." She moved to get up again.

Galinda pulled Elphaba back down so she was sitting on the bed again, closer to Galinda now.

"No Elphie, you don't get to talk like that in front of me. I'd prefer you didn't do it at all actually. Especially when I want to do this," Galinda said. Before Elphaba realized what was happening she felt a small, warm, soft pair of lips pressed against hers. The kiss was short but long enough for Elphaba to realize she could learn to like this. Then she heard a small giggle in front of her. It was then that Elphaba realized she still had her eyes closed and what was left of the now absent lips were the tingles on her own they left. When she opened her eyes she saw the loveable, rosy cheeked girl smiling back at her. Elphaba knew she was going to blush even before she felt the warmth creep across her cheeks.

"I'm going to assume that was okay since you were grinning for awhile after, with your eyes shut," Galinda said, trying to read Elphaba's thoughts, staring into her eyes. She was confident that Elphaba hadn't minded the kiss but she still wanted to hear it aloud from the girl.

"Yes," Elphaba said nodding. "Yes, that was okay."

"All right then. We should probably go to sleep now, it is getting later," Galinda said, softly running her finger down Elphaba's cheek one more time.

Elphaba nodded again. Galinda smiled back and leaned over giving the still flushed girl a kiss on the cheek. "Good night, Elphaba."

"Good night," Elphaba replied as she stood and walked over to her bed. She climbed into her bed and covered herself up to her chin with her blankets. Galinda blew out the lamp that lit the room, catching one final glance at her new love. Elphaba shut her eyes again and smiled as she felt sleep begin to overtake her.


	12. New Friends, New Enemies

**Chapter 12**

**Disclaimer still stands. This chapter was resubmitted with a few changes, a little more from Avaric and Elphaba at dinner.**

* * *

The morning came and Elphaba was up early getting ready for her classes. Galinda was still fast asleep as Elphaba gathered the last of her things. Normally Elphaba would just go to class however now she felt she was obligated to wish Galinda a good day and let her know she was leaving. She was certain she would hear about it later from Galinda if she didn't. Not use to this action, and a little unsure of herself, Elphaba quietly made her way over to the side of Galinda's pink, frilly bed. Amidst the mass of laciness, there laid her girl looking like a life size baby doll, much like the ones Nessa would receive as gifts, beautiful and perfect. The difference between Galinda and the dolls were that the dolls didn't snore as Galinda did. Elphaba chuckled to herself. Only someone like Galinda could make snoring seem adorable and endearing. She leaned down and kissed the blonde's forehead. At the contact Galinda's eyes fluttered open like a butterfly taking flight. Elphaba was promptly greeted with a smile.

"Good morning Elphie! Are you off to classes you silly, studious girl?" Galinda asked, not moving from her curled up state under the blankets.

"I am my sweet, snorey girlfriend," Elphaba replied straightening herself.

"Aww Elphie, you called me your girlfriend! For that I may forget that you just implied that I snore."

"I did and you do, take them both as you will. So, I guess I'll see you for dinner? I've got a tutoring session tonight but I can grab some food with you before that if you're free and would like to," Elphie said, deciding that she wasn't lying by calling her lessons with Fiyero tutoring sessions.

"I would love to Elphie, thank you for thinking of it. I'll be up and about soon but you should scoot on your way. Can't have the top student being late," Galinda replied trying to stifle her yawn.

"You should act as though you care if I am on time to my classes," Elphaba joked. "You and I both know you just want to go back to sleep. But yes, I should go. Then I will meet you in the café around fine o'clock?" Elphaba asked moving towards the door.

"Sounds wonderful Elphie. Have a good day!"

Elphaba turned to reply when she heard the start of soft snores again. She rolled her eyes and went off to her first class.

Elphaba went to her Life Science class and took her usual seat in the second row to the far right. As the rest of the students came in she found herself surrounded by ShenShen and some other girls she didn't really know taking seats by her. This was rather odd as most of them occupied the back row so they could talk or sleep without interruption. She was thankful they were too busy discussing the weekend's activities to talk to her but hoped this behavior wouldn't continue through the lesson.

As their professor came in and began the lecture, Elphaba's note taking was disrupted when a note flew onto her desk, hitting her pen. She looked around quickly to see who threw it but it looked like everyone else was either asleep or appearing to take notes. This wasn't the first time Elphaba had notes thrown at her during class. Most of them were insults but she could usually pick out the culprit as it was usually a boy pointing and laughing. Elphaba unfolded this note and read the small, scratchy script.

'Leave her alone.'

Elphaba folded the note back up, wondering if someone missed aimed. There were no names on it, not that many people signed their names to threats, but there wasn't even a name of the person to whom it was directed. Elphaba tucked the note away in her bag and continued taking notes. Every once in awhile she would look around to see if someone was staring at her or getting ready to throw something else her direction. Nothing else happened. The professor ended the lecture and released his students.

On her way out of class, she bumped into ShenShen as she started to make her way down the aisle. ShenShen turned to see who bumped into her, looking a little less than friendly but smiled when she saw Elphaba.

"Oh, hi Elphaba, I didn't see you there. Sorry about that." ShenShen said continuing to gather her notebook.

"Don't worry, it was my fault," Elphaba said keeping her head down trying to keep moving out of the classroom. It didn't help that she remembered what Galinda had said about ShenShen the night before and her blush grew deeper knowing more about the girl's private life. She felt as though it was something she should really not know about.

"Hey, we had fun on Friday. Are you going to join us again?" ShenShen asked following her out.

"Um, yeah, probably sometime. It will just depend on my schedule and all," Elphaba answered.

"I'm sure Galinda or maybe even Fiyero will keep you informed," ShenShen said giving Elphaba a smile and then turning and giggling with the other girls. "See you later Elphie!"

Elphaba gave a slight head nod and smile in return. She couldn't decide if she was happy, or uneasy about their conversation. She went into her next class still a little flustered from the encounter but unharmed, which she was grateful for. She would have to remember to Galinda about that later.

The rest of her classes went well and uneventful. She went down to the café after her last class to find Galinda at a table with two trays of food and drinks placed on the table. Elphaba walked over to Galinda who was writing in a book and sat down where the other tray of food and a glass of cider was set up.

"I know you can't be this focused on homework," Elphaba said setting her stuff down below the table.

"Hi Elphie! How was your day? I grabbed some food for you!" Galinda said quickly shutting the book and putting it on her chair, half sitting on it.

"My day was fine and yes, thank you for the food. It looks very good. How was your day?" Elphaba responded with a quizzical look at Galinda.

"My day was great! Everyone was talking about you and Fiyero!" Galinda said as she started to eat one of the sandwiches she had chosen for herself.

Elphaba paused with her mouth open, ready to take a bit out of an apple. "What about Fiyero and I?" There was a lot of talk about Fiyero to her today! She was a little worried that maybe someone had seen them at the gazebo. They hadn't really done much to try and hide, but the gazebo was in a secluded enough area that they didn't think it was needed.

"Your contest and everything on Friday. It was a hit! They think a rematch should be done soon. Which reminds me, you should get to have another go at that dare of yours. Maybe we can talk to Fiyero about that if he's being a good sport. You might get your chance to see Avaric and him dance after all!"

"Yeah, we'll have to see about that later. Actually, ShenShen talked to me as well. She said they had fun on Friday and asking if I was planning on going out with you all again." Elphaba said finally biting into her apple.

"Really? That's great Elphie! See, my friends aren't as horrible as you thought. They're just a little apprehensive to new things, that's all."

"You'll have to forgive me and my uneasiness towards your friends and their acceptance of anything to do with me yet. It wasn't that long ago that even you yourself weren't really talking to me," Elphaba reminded her.

"I know, I know. You have to admit, you don't exactly want people around all the time. And I'm sure you're well aware of the fact it shows," Galinda said giving her a grin.

"One of my finer qualities I would have to say, took many years to master," Elphaba said returning the grin. "So, what were you working on when I came up?"

"Working on?" Galinda asked, her eyes going from wide to innocent very quickly.

Elphaba motioned towards the book that was now out of her sight but knew it was still under Galinda's leg.

"Oh, that! That was nothing. Just a book I was reading," Galinda said shifting her salad around with her fork.

"Reading huh? Looked like you were taking notes in it then," Elphaba said not letting her off the hook that easy. Elphaba remembered that there was talk of a surprise for her and wondered if that was it.

"Uh yeah, was underlining some stuff to remember. So do you think your tutoring session will take long tonight?" Galinda asked shifting a little uncomfortably in her seat.

Now it was Elphaba's turn to squirm a bit. "Um no, I think maybe an hour tops."

Galinda was about to say something when from across the café her name was shouted.

"Galinda! Hey, can we join you?" Avaric asked making his way over towards the two girls table with a small group of people in tow.

Galinda glanced over at Elphaba who had a pained expression across her face but nodded slightly. At this point she really didn't have a choice. Galinda put on her big in-public-smile and waved the group over.

"Of course, come on over! You may have to pull some other tables up," Galinda said shifting her chair over next to Elphaba's. This way she could kick Elphaba under the table or take her hand, whatever was called for in the situation.

"Hello ladies," Avaric greeted the green girl and blonde as he sat down in a seat across from them. Boq pulled one of the tables nearby over and the girls in the group shifted chairs around and sat down with their dinners.

"Hi Avaric, how are you?" Galinda asked politely.

"Fine, just fine and yourself Miss Galinda?"

"The same. And how are you Master Boq?"

The munchkin was trying to wedge a chair between Galinda and another girl with little success. He looked up with a sheepish grin as he tried to avoid running the chair or himself into contact with Galinda.

"Oh, fine. I'm doing fine Miss Galinda," Boq answered finally settling himself and taking the food off his tray as it would not fit in the minimal space he was given by the now irritated girl to his right.

"Good to hear. How were classes for everyone? I heard there is going to be a horrible exam in Professor Richarks class today," Galinda continued the small talk, opening up the discussion for all to join in.

As the group talked, Elphaba kept quiet and tried to observe Galinda's friends as they joked back and forth with one another. One person she noticed missing from the gathering was Fiyero. Maybe he couldn't bring himself to take a meal with Galinda and the group yet? Elphaba continued to eat and keep an eye on those in the group who were in her morning class, which unfortunately was most of them.. She couldn't help but get the nagging feeling that one of them tossed that note and that it was indeed intended for her. No one seemed to act any differently than usual, with the exception of being within touching distance of her. That was still pretty new and different to Elphaba. Avaric acted as if he didn't have a care in the world, the girls traded gossip, Boq was his usual nervous self. Elphaba guessed the thing between he and Pfannee had fizzled out now as they weren't sitting close to each other and Boq was back to being close to Galinda when he could. She was about to take a drink of her cider when she felt a hand on her leg. The sudden touch on her body caused her to jump and almost spit out the contents in mouth completely. The group all turned their attention to Elphaba.

"Are you all right Elphaba?" a boy named Cerav asked.

"Yes, sorry about that. Just went down the wrong tube," Elphaba said trying to keeping herself from glaring at the girl next to her who was now looking down at her salad, trying to cover up the fact she was biting down on her lip to keep from laughing.

The conversation picked up again and Elphaba flicked the little hand still creating a warm spot on her leg. Galinda responded by rubbing Elphaba's leg with her thumb. Elphaba took that as a sign of apology and placed her hand on Galinda's for a brief moment and smiled. The girls enjoyed their private moment and then let it go to not draw attention to themselves. It was way too soon to explain anything to anyone who may catch them being affectionate.

"So Elphaba do you have a lab partner for Binsth's next experiment?" a girl from her Computative Science class named Jocalyn asked.

"Um, no, I was actually going to see if I could do that on my own," Elphaba answered.

"Well, if you change your mind I would like to be your partner. I thought your experiment idea sounded pretty neat. I read your hypothesis. It sounded very impressive and interesting. I promise I'd be good about my part in it," Jocalyn said with a smile.

Elphaba felt a light kick to her ankle. This action she was actually anticipating from her roommate so she didn't jump or anything.

"Sure, that sounds okay," Elphaba answered. She knew it wouldn't be so bad because the other girl was another one in class that actually seemed interested in the subject and never seemed to slack off.

"I have an experiment for everyone," Avaric said as he leaned back and put his arms around the shoulders of the two girls sitting next to him. "Why don't we see if our resident genius can put Fiyero to shame again this weekend? I think this time I can probably get some bets and make it even more worth your while Elphaba."

Elphaba chuckled "And I'm sure there would be nothing in that for you, Avaric?"

"Well, I'd take a small percentage for setting up the bids. It's be only fair after all," Avaric replied giving her a wink.

"Fair, right," Elphaba nodded. "Well I think it'd be fair to give Fiyero at least a weekend to recover before we try to push another set of limits."

"If you say so, but don't think you're getting off that easy Elphie. I intend to see a rematch and you'll see me more often until it happens," Avaric said grinning.

"Well," Elphaba said as she started to stand, "I should get going. I have some place I must be. I will see you all later. Jocalyn, I'll talk to you more about the experiment tomorrow in class."

The group said their goodbyes to Elphaba and continued with their meals.

Galinda stood as well. "I'll be right back. Don't take my seat away quite yet," she said to the group.

The girls dumped their trash and Galinda brushed against Elphaba lightly as they walked over to put their trays on a pile on a side table. "You're wonderful, you know that?"

"Yes, I'm right up there with the Wizard himself," Elphaba answered turning towards the smiling girl. "Hey, when I get back tonight I need to tell you about something that happened today," Elphaba said deciding maybe Galinda could help her with this mystery after all.

"Are you okay? Is something wrong? Do you need to talk now?" Galinda asked, becoming worried. Elphaba wasn't much of a talker so for her to request such to Galinda meant it was something important.

"No, it will be fine, just something you should know about," Elphaba said not wanting to worry the girl further. "Now get back to your group. If I keep you too long they will begin to miss you too much."

"Funny, I feel the same way about you lately. Keep that in mind when you're slaving over books and such, will you?" Galinda asked smiling at Elphaba.

Elphaba felt the blush across her face, taking in the sweet words.

"Have a good session then. We'll talk later." Galinda said knowing her mission was accomplished, and gave Elphaba a wink.

The girl headed back to the table of other kids, giving Elphaba a little shake to watch as she retreated. Elphaba rolled her eyes and headed to the gazebo.


	13. Partial Confessions

**Author's note: I know you all are probably quite upset at the delay of update for this. I was just a little fed up with all the problems I was having with the website. Hopefully you all understand and enjoy this next little bit. The next will follow shortly. **

**If you all do get bored sometime, I have changed a few chapters of the later chapters, including this one, since their original posting. I felt like I had changed my writing a bit since the start and I was trying to go back and reclaim some of the original feelings Elphaba and Galinda sent out.**

**Hope you all had a great holiday and will have a fun New Years! Take it away Elphie**

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**Chapter 13**

Elphaba took the now familiar path to hers and Fiyero's gazebo. The prince was standing at the steps with a bouquet of wild flowers in hand.

"Maybe you should put those in water until you can give those to your date," Elphaba said as she reached the grinning boy. "They will last must longer that way."

"They ran out of apples at the café so I got you these instead. A thank you to my teacher," Fiyero said handing over the bundle to Elphaba.

"Ah forever the charmer, aren't you? Now I understand how you made it so far in your academic career," Elphaba said taking the flowers and setting them down on the bench.

"Now Miss Elphaba, you're the one always telling me you're certain there's a brain in this head of mine somewhere, not me. I just saw these and thought you might enjoy them, that is all."

"Well that was very considerate of you then, I guess," Elphaba conceded to the prince. "So, you should be a little more confident with your waltzes now. Should we try each of those and then move on?"

"Ah forever the scholar, aren't you?" Fiyero returned. "Sure, that sounds fine. And actually, I brought something else that I thought might help," Fiyero said as he went over to the side of the gazebo and pulled something in a case open.

Elphaba heard some clicking and then a song filled the area. Elphaba whipped herself around to see Fiyero standing next to a music player smiling and bouncing on his heels.

"Where did you get that player? You need to turn it off before someone comes out here!"

"And catches the guilty dancing culprits that we are? The tragedy!" Fiyero laughed. "Relax Elphie. I've got it on loan from a guy in my hall and no one is going to hear it way out here! Plus, maybe the random couples that have wandered this way could use it to help set the mood" he said as he made his way over to a still upset Elphaba, smiling. "Come on, we'll just have it on for the waltzes. It'll be good practice, you know it will be." He took his position in front of Elphaba and waited for her to join him.

Elphaba sighed and gave in, placing her hand in his and the other at his waist. "Alright, just for these though. Then it goes off and you can keep it in your room to practice. Maybe Avaric will offer to assist you in your studies of the moves." Elphaba said returning his smile.

Fiyero just shook his head. "You need to give up on that dream of yours Elphie."

The couple stepped to the music, picking up the time and rhythm of the song quickly. Fiyero kept his eyes on Elphaba's and Elphaba tried looking past his, and focusing on things outside of the gazebo. Fiyero fluidly went through the motions, moving Elphaba lightly along with him. Elphaba was getting more uneasy as the dance progressed. She enjoyed her time with Fiyero but it was confusing her as well. They completed the first song in silence, bowing and curtseying to each other at the end. As the second song began Fiyero sighed.

"Is there something the matter Elphie?" Fiyero asked.

Elphaba looked at Fiyero for the first time since they started dancing. "No, actually you're doing very well. Great job not looking at your feet this lesson."

"Well thanks," Fiyero chuckled. "But that's not what I meant. I meant with you. You're just kind of out of it tonight."

"Sorry, just a lot on my mind. Actually, this is the first time since we've started dancing where I've been able just to go along with you and not worry for my feet," Elphaba joked, trying to change the subject.

"Nice try at a deflection. Would you even tell me if there was something the matter?" Fiyero asked with a smile grin. Elphaba thought she caught a hint of sadness mixed in his voice.

"Well, I know this may come as a shock to you, but I'm not what you would consider a talker anyway. So please, take no offense if I don't chatter away like most of your female companions."

"But it's nothing about me right? I mean these lessons, the flowers, I didn't upset you, right? I was just trying to lighten the mood this lesson."

"No, you've done nothing wrong Fiyero," Elphaba said with a sigh. "You're fun to be with. Honestly."  
'Maybe a little too fun', she thought to herself.

"Well good, then there is something I wanted to ask you." Fiyero asked as he turned Elphaba.

"And what would that be your princeness?" Elphaba asked trying to keep her nerves in check.

"Well, about this dare. As her roommate, I'm sure you're aware Miss Galinda and I are no longer dating."

"I had heard, yes."

"Well then I was wondering if I could alter the dare a bit. I mean, I'm sure Galinda and I would be fine going through with it as friends but it may send some people the wrong message about us getting back together."

"I'm following," Elphaba responded, gaining a bit of her confidence back. While she felt a little guilty of her budding relationship with his ex, she was still a little proud. "Well, what were you thinking? Should I just come up with another dare all together for you? Actually, some of the dares other girls came up with later sounded pretty entertaining." Elphaba said, raising her eyebrows thoughtfully.

"Well, then these wonderful lessons would have gone to waste," Fiyero said as he dipped Elphaba to emphasize his point.

Elphaba tensed a bit as she felt herself being lowered but gathered herself again as she felt the full support of the ground under her again. "Show off," she mumbled.

Fiyero smirked. "So, I was thinking that maybe you'd like to go with me instead."

Elphaba stopped dancing and stood in place with her hands remaining in their spots against Fiyero. "You thought what?"

"Well don't act so shocked. It would just be moving our lessons to another location really," Fiyero tried to argue logically.

"Another location and out in front of groups of people," Elphaba pointed out to her dance partner.

"Are you ashamed of me Elphie, is that it? Can't stand to be seen with such a lowly, dim witted, cad?" Fiyero joked, squeezing Elphaba's hand.

Elphaba brought her arms back down to her side, feeling her palms begin to get cold and her face get warm. "Well, that would put a damper on my ever growing popularity and reputation here, yes."

"Well maybe I can go in disguise then? Put on some dark rimmed glasses, borrow a hat from Boq. I could even tote around some books if you'd think it'd help."

Elphaba laughed at the mental picture she had of "brainy Fiyero" in her head. As the music player switched to the next song, the song she had danced to at the pub previously, the image was replaced by her lovely Galinda.

"Yes, dark rimmed glasses would completely change you. No one would be able to recognize you at all," Elphaba said sarcastically. "Unfortunately, I can't Fiyero, make over for you or not."

"You already have a date for the evening?" Fiyero asked with a side smirk, walking over to the player to turn it off.

Elphaba started wringing her hands together as she tried to think of how to get out of this situation.

Fiyero turned the player off and noticed he had not gotten an immediate 'no' or a caustic remark back, which he had expected from the usually quick to comment girl.

"Wait, do you?" Fiyero asked slightly surprised, stopping and turning back to face Elphaba, stopping his work on the player.

Elphaba straightened herself up and glared over at Fiyero. "You don't have to sound so shocked! And I didn't say that I did."

"But you haven't said you don't," Fiyero said running the rest of the way over to the player, turning it off and returning to where Elphaba was standing, arms crossed against her chest. "Is our little Elphie dating someone? Or thinking of asking someone out? Is it Cerav, that guy from your lab? He's always talking about how brilliant he thinks you are, mean, but brilliant. It would make sense…"

"Now I see why you and Galinda got along so well. You're practically the male version of her, going off on conversations of your own as you do," Elphaba said walking over to the benches.

"Well if not Cerav, who? Someone you met at the library perhaps? A graduate student? You would probably get along with an older person quite well, especially an advanced scholarly type…"

"Fiyero! Stop! I will talk if it will shut you up!" Elphaba shouted bringing her hands up to her ears and shut her eyes. Once she heard silence she opened her eyes back up.

She saw Fiyero smiling back at her.

"Oh Oz, that was your plan?" Elphaba rolled her eyes as she brought her hands down.

"Talk." Fiyero answered as he sat down next to her.

Elphaba didn't know where to start. "Well, I was thinking of maybe doing something with someone this weekend, yes. But I don't want to want everyone to know about it yet. So I can't tell you who and you must swear not to mention anything to anyone. Got it?"

"Wow, one weekend out and your calendar is getting full up." Fiyero said knocking his shoulder against Elphie's slumped set. She continued to sit in silence. "Wait,that's all I'm going to get? This is big news for you Elphie!"

"I'm sorry Fiyero, yes, that's all you're getting. Now if you don't mind, I may call this lesson to an end," Elphaba said beginning to stand

"I figured that was coming." Fiyero said as he stood with her. He reached out for her and turned her to face him. "Listen, Elphie, I know you may not think much of me, especially since I was a bit of a jerk to you before. But I want you to know I'm here for you if you do need to talk. I am happy for you and Mystery. I'm sure you wouldn't spend time with just anyone so they have to be a decent sort."

Elphaba was a little taken aback by Fiyero's impromptu speech. She was even more taken aback as he pulled her into a hug. Elphaba slowly brought her arms up to quickly squeeze Fiyero's before he released his grip. She could only bring herself to mumble a small "Thank you."

"You're welcome Elphie," he said as he gave her a final squeeze on her arms and walked over to the music player. "Now, I didn't get to tell you but I have plans tomorrow evening and the following so I won't be able to come the next few nights."

"Oh Fiyero, I'm sorry. We shouldn't have cut this lesson short then. I didn't know." Elphaba said turning to face him.

"Now what have I told you about worrying? There's no need, especailly if I'm not going to the class on Friday, then there is no sort of deadline."

"You can still go to the class! You'll do fine with whomever you decide to bring and trust me, there are many who would offer to go."

Fiyero came back with the player wrapped in his arms. "Thanks Elphie. I think I'll just take the weekend off or something. Come on, I'll walk you back. Don't forget your flowers Teach. I hear they last longer if you put them in water."

Elphaba turned back to grab the bouquet. "You've got your hands full. I'll be fine, it's still light out. I'm sure people are still walking around."

Fiyero hesitated. "I don't know…"

"Fiyero, I'm a big girl. I'll be fine. You don't want to lug that thing all the way to my place and then all the way back across campus."

Fiyero thought for a second as he shifted the player in his arms around a bit. "Jonas would be a tad angry if I dropped it. You're sure you'll be fine?"

"I promise. Thank you Princey."

"Then good evening Miss Elphaba. Have fun Friday if I don't see you before then." Fiyero said trying to give Elphaba his best attempt at a bow without hurting himself or the awkward player.

"I will. Good evening Fiyero."

The two walked off their separate ways down the dirt paths back to the houses on campus.


	14. Ready Or Not

A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers for staying with me on this story. I really do appreciate the feedback and try to not keep you all waiting too long. If any of you have suggestions or comments, please feel free to write me and let me know. You don't even have to post them on the reviews if you want.

So without further ramblings...

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Chapter 14

Elphaba had made it to the steps of her building when she looked down at the flowers she held.

"What am I going to do with these?"

She thought about giving them to Galinda but she didn't feel right giving her the flowers Fiyero had given to her. She decided to keep them and if, more appropriately, when Galinda asks about them she will tell the truth. The student she was tutoring gave them to her as a thank you.

"Truthful and harmless," Elphaba convinced herself aloud as she headed up to her room.

As she walked up to her door she saw a note tacked on it. In small script her name was on the outside. She took it down and unfolded it. In the same handwriting, on the inside, "I'm watching" was written.

"Well, one mystery solved, these are for me," Elphaba said before she took a quick look around in the hall, sure that she wouldn't see anyone.

She walked in to find Galinda putting her rollers in with her fluffy light pink robe on. The robe was untied and Elphaba could see a glimpse of the silky white nightgown Galinda wore underneath as her arms raised and separated the opening of the robe. Galinda looked up at Elphaba and smiled snapping the roller in her hands on. Elphaba returned the smile and put the note in her pocket.

"Oh Elphie, are those for me?" Galinda asked eyeing the flowers grabbing another roller from her box and separating another blonde strand of hair.

"Actually, they were a gift from my student. Turns out he's doing rather well now and he wanted to thank me. Speaking of which, I'm free the next few nights," Elphaba added hoping to take the focus off the actual flowers.

Galinda was a little sad as she had gotten her hopes up for a romantic gesture from Elphaba until the second part of Elphaba's statement sunk in. "Yay!" she squealed rolling the blonde hair up, walking towards the bathroom. "Here, you can borrow a vase for those if you want if you don't have one."

"That would be nice. As you can imagine I don't have many flower vases laying around from my many secret admirer bouquets I get," Elphaba said with her smirk. "Then we can both enjoy them a little longer," Elphaba replied following Galinda, bringing the bundle into the bathroom.

Galinda snapped the curler into place and reached down to fill the vase with water. Once it was full Elphaba stepped forward to put the flowers in.

"Here," Galinda said, reaching for the bouquet, taking them out of the green hands.

Elphaba looked at the other girl with her eyebrows raised in question.

Galinda looked up when she realized Elphaba hadn't moved her hands from how they had recently held the flowers.

"I just want to make sure none of the water gets on you, that's all," Galinda replied suddenly feeling foolish. Elphaba was practically a grown up whom always had to deal with her reaction to water, of course she could handle putting silly flowers into a vase with out burning herself. "I'm sorry Elphie, that was pretty stupid of me. I didn't mean to sound like a mother or anything."

"Well that would be the one of the first times someone has worried about me as a mother would," Elphaba said, a little taken a back by Galinda's care.

Seeing that she wasn't going to get a lecture of made fun of, Galinda said, "Well, you might want to get use to someone looking after you. One of the first rules of dating me is no dieing. Right up there is not getting hurt or sick if you can help it. I'll expect your full cooperation in both those rules." Galinda leaned over and gave Elphaba a quick peck on the cheek as she moved the flowers into the bedroom.

"Rules, huh? I was not aware of such things when I agreed to try this relationship. Is there paperwork I must sign? More rules to adhere to perhaps?" Elphaba said again falling in behind the blonde.

"Yes, there are more rules but we'll go over them as needed you mean green thing. Now, where should we put these? They are very beautiful."

"Well then, they should fit in perfectly on your side of the room," Elphaba said looking around for a blank area on Galinda's desk or shelf.

"No, no, no, Elphie. These are yours, they should be on your side," Galinda said, doing a similar thing in Elphaba's side of the room. "And don't think I didn't catch that remark you tried to sneak in. You know full well how I feel about you putting yourself down Elphie."

Elphaba chuckled to herself. She continued to look around Galinda's side for a place for the flowers when she came across the book Galinda had during dinner. Her curiousity had been peaked earlier and Elphaba was certain this wasn't a book Galinda was just reading. She took a quick glance over her shoulder as she reached for the cover. She saw Galinda shuffling papers and sliding some books over on her shelf. She took her hand off the book and started to make her way over to Galinda.

"Hey, careful with those," Elphaba said standing next to Galinda, repositioning the discarded books on a lower shelf. "They are extremely rare. I had to practically beg the librarian to let me check them out without a professor's direct request. I'd rather get a few drops of water on myself than those."

Galinda turned back to face Elphaba as she put the flowers down on the newly cleared spot. "We have really got to work on your priorities."

Elphaba could not contain a forceful laugh. "Oh my sweet, have you ever heard of the term 'pot calling the kettle black'?" she asked.

"I understand our priorities are not the same you mean green thing, but personal sacrifice for some old musty, dusty books? C'mon Elphie, they're just books."

"And your shoes are just shoes but I happen to know that you will not let them ride in the baggage area on the trains as you are afraid of them being stolen or damaged." Elphie quipped smirking at the blonde.

"That is not the same thing Elphie and you know it," Galinda said poking Elphaba in the side.

The action forced a giggle out of Elphaba, who quickly covered her mouth after she heard the high pitched noise come out of her.

Galinda looked at the green girl wide eyed with a glint of mischief added to her eyes. Elphaba slowly back away from the smiling girl.

"Where ya going Elphie?" Galinda asked sweetly, creeping her hands up and walking gradually towards Elphaba.

Elphaba brought her hands down and put her arms to her sides knowing that the thoughts going across her girlfriends head could only mean trouble for her. "No where really. I was thinking of grabbing some cider. Had something in my throat then," Elphaba said adding a cough. "You might have heard me coughing a second ago."

"I don't know Elpahaba. I think I heard a giggle. I think I heard an adorable giggle because you were tickled, meaning you, Miss Serious All The Time are ticklish. How could I have not known about this before?"

Elphaba felt herself grow nearer and nearer to Galinda's wardrobe. Once there she wouldn't have anywhere else to run unless she could make it to the bathroom or the front door. She took a quick side glance at the bathroom and then the front door to see which was closest. "Well, it's a good thing you're not the type of person to take advantage of such information then, huh?"

Galinda saw Elphaba check her options. She quickly started to angle herself towards the bathroom door so she could cut her off if Elphaba made a break for it. "I wouldn't dream of such a thing Elphaba," she said smiling sweetly. "Now why don't you come here? I want to give you a hug. Also, if you run out that door I am locking it and I know your keys are on your desk."

Elphaba knew Galinda was toying with her now. Feeling the wardrobe now with the back of her hands an idea came to her. She quickly opened the doors and grabbed the first dress she could get her hands on holding it in front of her. "Stop right there Galinda or I'll….I'll rip this dress."

Galinda stopped and looked wildly at Elphaba. "Oh Elphie you wouldn't. And anyway, that dress doesn't fit me anymore so it doesn't really matter. I haven't worn that thing in ages."

Elphaba looked down at the dress in her hands. "What? You just wore this la…"

Elphaba didn't even see the other girl rush towards her pressing her against the wardrobe but she did feel the fingers wildly running up and down her sides. She dropped the dress in attempt to block the hands but she wasn't quick enough. She couldn't help but start laughing as Galinda hit her ticklish spots. "Stop, stop, please….Galinda…I'm begging…please….I'm going to cry!" Elphaba pleaded trying to gain her breath any chance she could. At the mention of 'cry' Galinda stopped her attack. Elphaba slumped down to the floor, gasping for breath. Her face was as deep a green as Galinda had ever seen it. Galinda herself was out of breath as ensuing the attack had taken just as much effort on her part as fighting it had for Elphaba. Galinda looked down smiling triumphantly at her roommate.

"And I'm the mean one," Elphaba wheezed, trying to keep a smile off of her face. She felt the dress underneath her and shifted to pull it out. "You lied to me!"

Galinda reached out to take the dress from Elphaba and leaned over to put the dress back on the hanger and in its spot in the closet. "I knew you wouldn't really do anything to it Elphie, it was just a distraction so I just distracted you back." Galinda stepped back and offered her hands to her roommate.

Elphaba looked at the pair of hands offered to her and sighed as she took them and allowed herself to be pulled up. She thought about pulling the smaller girl down to her but thought better of not doing that. As she stood on her own, Galinda wrapped her arms around Elphaba's waist, careful to avoid any further tickling.

"I like learning things like that about you Elphie. It's fun," Galinda said as she rested her head against Elphaba's chest, listening to her heart still racing.

"Fun yes, was that what was happening there? I must have missed that before I was being viciously attacked," Elphaba said as she brought her own arms around Galinda's waist.

"Hmm, I guess you must have," Galinda mused smiling and closing her eyes giving Elphaba a squeeze.

The couple stood, enjoying the moment for awhile. Galinda started to sway as they stood, triggering an impromptu dance. The dance wasn't much more than swaying and turning with each other but the action triggered something in Elphaba.

"Galinda, there are some things I wanted to talk to you about," Elphaba said looking down at the mass of blonde hair, some in curlers, some still free.

Galinda looked up. "Oh that's right. I'm sorry Elphaba I kind of forgot that you had said you had talked to talk at dinner. Do you want to get ready for bed and then talk?"

Elphaba thought about that for a bit. "Yes, I think so." She finished by taking Galindan's hand and giving her a twirl. "But the dance was nice."

"Yes it was," Galinda agreed, smiling as she thought about getting to really dance with Elphaba sometime in the near future.

As the two girls went their separate ways to get ready for bed Elphaba was now thinking of telling Galinda both about her notes and about her lessons with Fiyero. She knew if Galinda did find out about them then she would be hurt and feel like two of the people closest to her had betrayed her. Elphaba wouldn't be able to handle causing her that much pain. She knew Galinda may not be happy hearing about it period, but at least if Elphaba was honest now, maybe it wouldn't be as bad. She continued to get ready and think about how to tell Galinda.

"I'm just about ready, how about you Elphie?" Elphaba heard the girl of her thoughts ask from their bathroom.

Elphaba let out a breath. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready."


	15. Confessions and Apologies

**A/N: Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you all had a wonderful day!**

Thank you to my great reviewers! You're keeping me focused on the characters right now which is definitely what I need. Those of you that enjoy the Fiyero/Elphaba aspect, I promise, they will continue to have a great relationship and there is more in store for our Winkie Prince so please, stay with me a bit more! The Galinda/Elphaba fans should enjoy this chapter.

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**Chapter 15**

Elphaba sat down on her bed.

"Do you want me to join you there or would it be better if I stayed over on my bed?" Galinda asked trying to make Elphaba as comfortable as possible.

"For now, why don't you sit on your bed and we'll see how this all goes," Elphaba said as she grabbed the notes from her desk.

Galinda began to worry a little. She was afraid Elphaba was rethinking this relationship they had started. She tied her robe as she felt a shiver go through her body. She couldn't tell if it was from cold air or fear of the conversation ahead. Galinda sat with her legs over the side of her bed facing Elphaba with her legs crossed at her ankles. When she looked up at Elphaba she saw someone just as nervous as she was.

Elphaba cleared her throat and took a similar position on her bed directly across from Galinda.

"There were two things I really wanted to talk with you about. First, I got this note thrown at me in class. At first I thought maybe it wasn't meant for me but then this note was stuck on our door tonight," Elphaba said deciding to get what she considered the easier topic out of the way as she handed Galinda the notes.

Galinda looked them over and read them both. She thought someone putting this on her door unbeknownst to her while she had been in the room was a little unsettling. It was obvious both notes were done by the same person but she hadn't a clue whose handwriting it was.

"So someone knows about us already? How could they? We've barely even started!" Galinda said looking up at Elphaba for answers.

Unfortunately, Elphaba had none to supply. "I don't know Glin. I really don't know. Maybe they don't necessarily know the..um..nature of our relationship but aren't happy about our new friendship even."

"Well, we should bring this to Madame Morrible's attention then! This is kind of like stalking Elphie. I mean, 'I'm watching you'? If that's not harassment I don't know what is! We'll go see Madame Morrible tomorrow," Galinda said hoping that would help ease herself and her roommate.

"What are you hoping for Glin, a bodyguard?" Elphaba asked unsure of the idea of drawing more attention to the situation.

"Well, I don't know. There has to be something she can do! If not, I'll write my parents and I am sure they will have a thing or two to say if something is not done."

Elphaba sighed. She knew Galinda was right. This note thing was getting a bit ridiculous. "Okay, but maybe we shouldn't push for a security detail just yet. I mean what if this is just a harmless prank and it stops tomorrow?"

Galinda still didn't feel very good about the situation but she had to agree with Elphaba that she would hate to see one of her friends get into trouble because she couldn't take a joke. "Okay, we'll wait on bringing it up to Madame Morrible but I don't want you wandering around campus by yourself Elphie, okay? It's obvious this person is targeting you and not me. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you. Rule #1," she said wanting to go over and hold her girlfriend's hand for comfort. She stayed put though remembering Elphaba's comfort may not be that same as her own.

Elphaba smiled and nodded. "Yes, I remember. Now, for the other thing." Elphaba stopped, feeling her stomach rise into her throat. She swallowed to try and ease the discomfort but failed. She looked down and realized she was wringing her hands a little and focused on keeping them still. She looked up at the intense blue eyes across from her. She felt a little flutter in the area where her stomach would normally be. She swallowed again and continued, hoping if she showed a little more confidence this would go better for her.

What Elphaba didn't know was that Galinda felt her stomach drop as Elphaba continued. She had hoped that Elphaba had told the worst news first but could quickly see that wasn't the case. She felt the urge to go over to the green girl and hold her in her arms until whatever was upsetting her passed. Her fear was that she was the problem and therefore wouldn't be able to solve it.

"What I wanted to tell you about was my tutoring sessions. I haven't been entirely honest with you. While I have been giving lessons it hasn't been for school. It's been for dance," Elphaba began.

All at once a great weight was dropped on Galinda. Her lessons with Fiyero. ShenShen's words rang through her head, '_She agreed that she would have to get you out of the way to get to him._'

"So, it's him then?" Galinda asked in a quiet whisper.

"What?" Elphaba asked confused and shocked she was interrupted so quickly. "Galinda, let me finish."

"You don't need to Elphaba," Galinda said feeling her anger flaming inside of her. "I know about your lessons with Fiyero. I saw you two together. I just didn't think you would actually continue them after I told you how I felt. After…after you told me how you felt." Galinda felt the prick of tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Wait, you saw us? When?" Elphaba asked, fighting to keep her voice from rising. This was not one of the reactions she tried to anticipate from Galinda.

"I saw you the night before we talked. The night I left that note for you. I knew I'd have to tell you soon or you'd end up with Fiyero just like ShenShen said. I couldn't even watch you two together. That's when I knew I wanted to be with you and not him. But it doesn't even matter. You've ended up with him anyway, haven't you?" Galinda began to cry putting her head into her hands. Sobs wracked through her body.

Elphaba raced over and kneeled in front of her, grabbing the weeping girl by the shoulders. "No, no I haven't Galinda. I haven't! I'm right here with you! I wanted to tell you so you wouldn't find out from someone else and get the wrong idea. Please, you have to believe me," Elphaba said rubbing her hands up and down Galinda's arms. "Please Galinda, please," Elphaba whispered.

Galinda's cries subsided as she heard Elphaba's words and felt the warmth on her arms that Elphaba provided. She couldn't deny that even though she was mad at her, Elphaba could still produce those tingly feelings throughout her body. Elphaba hadn't given her cause not to believe her or trust her. She had always been honest, even brutally at times. Galinda brought her hands away from her face, sniffling still. She saw Elphaba had a few dark streaks down her face. Galinda instantly felt a pain of regret knowing Elphaba had burned herself because of her.

"Oh Elphie, here, don't cry," Galinda said softly, taking Elphaba's face into her hands, wiping away the offending tears with her sleeve, careful not to touch the burn marks to keep from causing Elphaba further pain.

Elphaba looked up at Galinda and placed her hands over Galinda's wrists. For a moment the two stared at each other. Elphaba's brown eyes, darker than Galinda had seen them, and Elphaba taking in Galinda's still glistening blue eyes.

"I am so sorry Galinda. I promise nothing happened between us. I…" Elphaba began to plead.

She was silenced by soft pink lips covering her own dark green ones. She felt small hands running through her hair as the kiss deepened. Galinda ran her tongue across the bottom of Elphaba's lip, sending shivers down her spine and a warm burning sensation into her settling stomach. She felt Galinda begin to lower herself to the floor, coming between Elphaba and the bed. Elphaba moved her hands to Galinda's waist as she settled partly on Elphaba's lap and the floor.

The two continued the feverish kiss. Elphaba forgot about her burns and Galinda forgot about her worries. For this moment, they were focused on each other and the feelings each other were creating. Without her permission, a moan escaped Elphaba's mouth as Galinda gently nipped at her bottom lip. Galinda couldn't help but giggle at her girlfriend's reaction. It created a sensation between Galinda's legs to hear that coming from Elphaba. Elphaba blushed and smiled. Both girls took this opportunity to catch their breath and let their hearts slow down a bit. Galinda reached down and ran her hands over Elphaba's smooth arms. Elphaba brought her hands up and intertwined their fingers together.

The kiss slowed down to several short kisses and then into gentle pecks with an occasional nose rub.

"I hope you can accept my apology," Galinda said leaning against the bed, holding Elphaba's hands.

"That was your apology? I may have to get angry at you more often." Elphaba said smiling surprising herself at how happy and excited she felt. "I will accept yours if you accept mine," Elphaba said a little more seriously.

Galinda nodded and kissed Elphaba's hands. "I was silly to have jumped to a conclusion. I was just so scared. While this thing we have is ending up being extremely…intense," Galinda said, blushing just thinking about the past few moments. "It is still very new. I wasn't ready to lose it yet. I just hope you aren't too mad at me."

Elphaba chuckled. "I was too upset that I distressed you so much to be angry, my sweet. I just felt like it was something you should know. I am a little curious about that ShenShen thing and you seeing us dance though. We don't have to talk about it now though if you don't want."

Galinda huffed, reaching for a tissue on her side table. "Oh, stupid ShenShen! She was trying to convince me that you were using me to get to Fiyero. I didn't believe her then and I don't believe her now but for a second I just got myself so worried and confused it came back to me again. I'm just as foolish for thinking it as she is for telling me she thought that."

Elphaba smiled as she could tell the girl was beginning to ramble. "Glin, Fiyero and I are friends. Becoming pretty good friends so it seems, but still, friends. Actually, I was toying with the idea of telling him about us."

Galinda couldn't hide her shock. "Really? You're ready to tell someone about us?"

"Well, not this minute no, but I feel like if we continue to be friends he should know. Plus, I told him that I was interested in someone already. I'm sure I can only hold off telling him who for so long."

"So you're gossiping with him now?" Galinda asked with her eyebrow raised and a grin on her face.

"Not gossiping, no! Just talking," Elphaba replied trying to cease the teasing she knew was inevitable from the other girl.

"Just talking about people you like? You're right, that sounds nothing like gossiping." Galinda joked, nodding, trying to turn her smile into a serious face.

Elphaba glared at the blonde. Galinda tried to glare back but failed and ended up looking like she had just put an incredibly sour candy in her mouth and was trying to keep from crying. Elphaba's glare didn't last long when looking at Galinda's face. She sighed and leaned forward to kiss Galinda's nose. Galinda watched her the whole way in, making her eyes go crossed, forcing Elphaba to laugh.

"Fine, you win. We were doing a thing similar to gossiping. A gossiping affiliate, if you will," Elphaba said taking Galinda's hand in her own.

"I'm not trying to embarrass you Elphaba. I think it's great you can talk to Fiyero! As long as you're _just_ talking," Galinda said adding a wink. She raised hers and Elphaba's hands and turned herself around so she was leaning her back against Elphaba and their arms were crossed in front of her. She snuggled into Elphaba's hold and sighed.

Elphaba didn't bother to argue or tease any further. The comfort of the smaller woman in her arms and against her was indescribable. She leaned forward and rested her head on the blonde's shoulder, breathing in the scent of her just washed hair.

Galinda ran her thumb over Elphaba's hand as she felt the girl behind her relax into her. "You know Elphie, if you did feel like things weren't working out between us, I'd want you to tell me right away, okay? We've got to be totally honest about things. You have to put my feelings aside and let me know."

"Okay," Elphaba replied simply. "And you will do the same?"

"Deal," Galinda shook their hands for both of them. "Now, I don't want to deal with an extra mean green thing tomorrow so we need to get you to bed."

Elphaba silently agreed but not before giving Galinda a kiss on the cheek. She wouldn't have thought about doing such things before but with Galinda it felt natural. She brought her arms back behind her and pushed herself up. She looked down to see Galinda with her arms up in the air for assistance. Elphaba reached down and hoisted her up. Galinda turned and took Elphaba's hand leading her to her own bed. There she pulled the covers back and motioned for Elphaba to get in. Elphaba smiled and granted the girl's request. She crawled in and stretched her arms over her head for a moment. When she settled, Galinda brought the covers up to her chin and kissed her forehead.

"Thank you for telling me about your lessons Elphaba, and the notes," Galinda said still close to her face.

"You're welcome. I'm sorry it upset you."

"It's okay. There will be things we'll have to work out Elphie and I realize that. We'll just work through them together, just like this," Galinda answered brushing a strand of Elphaba's hair back. "Now, I want you to get some rest. Fresh Dreams Elphie," Galinda said giving her a soft kiss on the lips.

Elphaba was caught up in being tucked in for the first time she could remember in her life. Before Galinda left, Elphaba grabbed her hand.

"Wait, I forgot to ask you something!" Elphaba said, remembering something else she was thinking about earlier.

Galinda stopped and laughed at how childlike Elphaba sounded. "What's that Elphie?"

"Do you want to go out Friday?" Elphaba asked feeling a little silly as the words came out her mouth.

Galinda kept from laughing or giggling knowing this was probably the first time Elphaba had asked anyone out. She smiled back. "I would love to go out with you Elphaba."

"Okay," Elphaba said, knowing that the answer was going to be yes but feeling good to hear it aloud. "Friday night then. Fresh dreams Galinda."

Galinda blew out the lamp that was by Elphaba's bed, went over to her bed and climbed in. She found it hard to fall asleep after all the excitement tonight. She kept thinking back to the couple's kiss and feeling the warm tingles that spread through her body again. Finally, after what felt like hours later, she settled herself and fell asleep, sure she would have just as good of dreams.


	16. Surprise

**Chapter 16**

Hearing the puff of snoring from across the room, Elphaba awoke with a smile on her face.

'That's becoming a regular thing lately. I think I could get use to this,' she thought to herself as she started to get up from bed.

Heading to her wardrobe she thought about the night before. She thought about how upset Galinda had been when she thought Elphaba had chosen Fiyero over her. She wasn't use to anyone expressing feelings that strongly about her, let alone because it would be that she chose to be with someone else. In her experience it was a relief when people didn't have to deal with her.

She began to wonder about the two other mysteries going on in her life. First, who was the creep sending her messages? Second, what was Galinda's surprise? She could hardly believe Galinda wasn't trying to get her to guess what it was more.

After making a quick survey of her bag for classes she decided she had everything she needed. Elphaba turned towards Galinda's desk hoping to see the mystery book out where she could take a closer look. She wouldn't snoop of course because snooping was wrong, a personal invasion, but maybe if it was close to the edge of the desk and happened to fall open onto the floor she would have to be a good roommate and girlfriend and pick it up. She had no such luck though as it had been moved at some point in the night.

She turned back towards her desk when she noticed the soft snores had stopped and the sounds of stirring and stretching replaced them.

"Good morning, my sweet. Have good dreams?" Elphaba asked of the blonde whose eyes were still shut but arms reaching over her head as the sheets shifted showing her white silk gown again. Memories of the previous night flashed in her mind as her hands could almost feel that silk dance under her fingers again.

"Good morning, Elphie! I had the best dreams. They starred a tall, dark and mysterious green girl who swept me off my feet. Literally, Elphie, we were riding through the clouds in the night sky. You had this gorgeous gown on that fit you just perfectly and I was holding you tight as we flew. "

Galinda swung her feet out from her bed and threw on her robe tying it up. She went over to Elphaba's desk where there was a pencil and a stack of papers. Galinda flipped one over and started to move the pencil over it.

Elphaba quirked an eyebrow at the girl's actions but moved over behind her silently. When she got close enough to see over the girl's shoulder she saw the outline of a dress starting to make its way across the page.

"Glin, what are you doing to the back of my research paper? It didn't really need illustrations and while actually very good, the dress doesn't really fit in with the rest of the project," Elphaba said with a slight smile watching the girl sketch so intently.

"Oh, Elphie, it's the gown you had on. It really was so perfect on you. Not a daily gown mind you but a dressy gown. Not a ball gown but still it was so grown up and so you. All these wonderful colors blended so seamlessly. Reds and purples, a little blue maybe and I think some silver or pearl accents. I want to try and get as much of it down as I can while I still remember it. And a cape, Elphie, you had a cape!" Galinda remarked getting more frantic in her movements on the paper.

"A cape? Really? Why would I need a cape? " Elphie asked, still amused with this morning's Galinda.

"I don't know, maybe you would get cold otherwise? We were up in the air and flying, Elphie. I suppose you would need some sort of protection from the elements, right?" Galinda commented not taking her focus away from the sheet.

"You know, that actually makes sense. Once you get passed that whole I can't fly thing," Elphaba said slightly jokingly.

"Hush, you mean thing. On the ground or in the air you will look beautiful in it. We could get it made sometime. My mommsie knows a wonderful tailor and with your tall figure he would love to get his hands on you."

At that Elphaba slowly backed away from the other girl. "As nice as that sounds, maybe we could work with people who keep their hands to themselves?"

"Oh, for Oz sake, Elphie, don't be silly. He wouldn't have any more interest in you than he would a mannequin. There, all finished. Clearly he would have to add his own flair. Some lace, maybe a little ribbon here and there," Galinda commented making a few notes on the page. "What do you think?"

She gave the page to Elphaba who examined the sketch and the notes on the side detailing some color schemes and suggested accents. "This is actually really good, Glin. Forgive me but I didn't know you could draw like this. It's very realistic. If you had used color pencils as well I could practically wear the page."

Galinda blushed a bit and stepped up to wrap her arms around Elphaba who was still looking at the paper in awe. "Thank you, Elphie. Sorry for ruining your research notes. And good morning again," Galinda said stretching on her toes to kiss Elphaba's cheek.

Elphaba brought the paper down, wrapped her arms around Galinda's waist and kissed the blonde head by her shoulder. "I think this was a much better use of the paper than my notes, honestly. Where did you learn to draw like this?"

"I've always been a doodler. I use to get so mad when my teachers would take my pencils away so I would listen to them more. I got to take a couple lessons before coming here that helped me with detailing my drawings. You know, add shading to the mole I put on the other mean teacher's face," Galinda laughed as she squeezed Elphaba before letting her go to start getting ready for classes.

"I am impressed. I can't believe I've never seen you do anything like this before. Do you draw often? Or other things than your mean teachers from days of old?"

Galinda laughed and pulled a uniform out of her wardrobe. "Well, it's funny you should mention that. I had kind of wanted to wait but now seems as perfect a time as any. Lift up the top left corner of my mattress," Galinda said as she made her way into the bathroom.

"Glin, I'm not an expert in these matters but I've heard rumors of the type of things people stuff under their mattresses. I'm not certain this is really the perfect time you ment…"

"Ha ha, very funny," Galinda said finishing buttoning her blouse on her way out of the bathroom. "You know, you have these moments where I swear you have spent more time with Averic and Fiyero than you would admit."

Elphaba chuckled as she watched Galinda tuck in her blouse and straighten her skirt. She then saw the blonde make her way over to her bed, reaching under the mattress as she had instructed Elphaba to do. She pulled out the mystery book from the hiding spot. She brought it over to the other side of the room as Galinda motioned for Elphaba to sit on her bed, handing her the book.

Elphaba toyed with the cover a bit before opening it to reveal a world of buildings, people, landscapes and other objects.

"Tada," Galinda said in a small voice as Elphaba flipped through the black, white and shades of gray world her girlfriend had presented her with. "It's not much but something I've never shared with anyone else. I figured you might appreciate it since my newer projects have been some of those buildings I read about. Well, not the whole buildings but parts I found interesting about them."

Elphaba was amazed to say the least. She had never really been one to focus on the world of art. She could appreciate what she saw on museum walls on outings with Nessarose and Nanny but this was a completely different situation. Before she saw flat pictures made for analyzing and critiquing as Nanny would and Nessa followed suit. Here was the world as Galinda saw it. Be it a world without much color but it didn't lack in vibrancy and detail. And the artist wasn't some recluse or travelling vagabond she would never meet, it was a sweet, almost timid girl right now who was glancing back and forth between Elphaba's face and the pictures she was looking at.

"These are breathtaking, Galinda, truly breathtaking. I think I like your drawings of some of these people more than I like the actual people," Elphaba said as she flipped through different portrait sketches.

Galinda grew a smile and chuckled a bit. "Thank you, Elphie. Coming from you though, I don't know if that is really a challenge to do seeing as you didn't care for some of these people until recently and some you could probably still do without. But this was your surprise. A little bit of me just for you."

If Elphaba was speechless before she was dumbfounded now. Not only had Galinda's words struck a chord in her, she had reached a particular drawing of a girl sitting in a lounge chair reading a book in front of a fireplace. The girl was familiar as Elphaba had seen her every day in the mirror. Elphaba cleared the sudden block she had in her throat and holding in the tears she felt pooling up. "Take for example this girl," Elphaba said motioning the page to Galinda. "You show her way prettier than she actually is. You missed the scowl and the furrowed eyebrows right here. And I think one of those moles you talked about earlier could go right here."

Elphaba had successfully lightened the mood in the room as Galinda out right laughed at this as she reached out to slap Elphaba's leg, rolling her eyes. "You don't get make to comments like that about that girl, Elphie. I happen to think she is beautiful and I'll have you know she is taking me out on a marvelous date this Friday. I am prepared to be swept off my feet. Maybe just figuratively this time."

Elphaba looked back down at the drawing of her again. "That's a lot of pressure, I kind of feel sorry for this girl now."

Galinda rose from the bed motioning for book which Elphaba closed and handed back to her. Taking the book and putting it on her desk she returned to the green girl taking her hands into hers. "You don't have to worry about anything, Elphie. The fact that it will be you and me makes it just right already. No pressure, okay?"

Elphaba stood, looking down into the bright blue eyes. She hadn't really felt pressured until she really thought about what she was doing. She, Elphaba Throbb, resident book worm, sarcastic queen of snide, girl of no importance what so ever was taking Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands, resident popularity queen, beauty both inside and out on a date.

Galinda saw the fear streak across Elphaba's eyes. She squeezed Elphaba's hands. "Stop. Whatever you're thinking about, stop. " She smiled up at her future date. "Really, Elphie, we don't have to do anything outrageous or extravagant. I just want to spend time with you, alone, off campus. I want that funny, quick witted, intelligent beyond all imagination, confident in herself girl to spend time with. And if some hand holding, quick kisses and maybe a dance are involved I won't say no to that either."

"You know, I think you're the one who knows just what to say sometimes," Elphaba says as she lets out a deep breath she found she had been holding. "Thank you. Thank you for everything this morning. I still can't believe those drawings, Glin. I want to see more if I may."

"You have my permission to peruse at your leisure. No more hiding under the bed. While I'm not up to sharing with others quite yet, I am willing to share with you. I trust you and would love to hear what you think on some of them," Galinda said.

"I would be honored," Elphaba said, giving Galinda a quick hug. "And thank you for the future dress I suppose."

"And cape, Elphie. Don't forget the cape," Galinda said hugging her back and turning to grab her bag, gathering her books.

Elphaba turned to grab her bag as well. "Ah yes, the cape. No, no, I wouldn't forget that. Mustn't get cold during flight."

"Of course not, it ruins the whole experience," Galinda said going along with the teasing knowing there was no real bite to it. "Will I see you tonight after classes? You should have lunch with Jocalyn since you two will share the same lunch after your lab."

"I suppose so. I mean about the lunch. We will have to see how the day goes. She may be sick of me by then or vice versa. But dinner we can do. Assuming you aren't sick of me either."

Galinda shook her head and rolled her eyes as they made their way to the door to start their day outside the four walls of their room. As they headed out and Galinda locked the door behind them she said, "You are incorrigible, Elphie. Speaking of which, just what did you think I would have under my mattress?"

The other girls in the hallway looked on in amazement as they had never seen their green classmate smile let alone laugh as hard as they just heard through the hall.


	17. Experiments

Chapter 17

Her morning had gone quite well so far. She definitely didn't think she could beat the start it had so far. Her first two lessons went without any surprises or difficulties and she couldn't stop but smile when thinking back to her morning with Galinda.

Elphaba made her way to the lab going to her usual back corner table and began unpacking her bag and setting her papers in order. Just when she started to sit down and go through her experiment steps again she noticed Jocalyn standing at the corner of the table. The girl was patiently waiting for Elphaba to acknowledge her before she spoke. Elphaba looked up her expectant face.

"Good morning, Elphaba," she said without making any further advancement towards the green girl.

"Good morning, Jocalyn. How are you doing," Elphaba asked making space on the lab table.

Jocalyn's smile beamed at her as she took this as an invitation to sit at the table with the green girl. She went around the table to settle on the stool next to Elphaba and swung her leather satchel around her to unpack it as well.

"I'm doing well, thank you, Elphaba. How has your day been? Are you ready to work on your experiment?"

Elphaba glanced over at the girl who was settling in next to her, trying to decide if this was such a great idea anymore. Maybe she should have approached this being more social thing a little slower. Baby steps of sorts. Looking up and seeing the girl smile as she greeted her now she knew it was too late in this case.

"My day has been good, thank you. I think if we read through the notes today and go through some of the procedures we might be able to start the experiment today. If not today we should be able to start Friday morning," Elphaba said sliding some papers over to Jocalyn. "If you would like to take down some of the notes I've already started, that would be a good place to begin. We can discuss from there what each of us should cover."

Jocalyn finally had all of her things settled and took the papers Elphaba had mentioned and started to get her notebook ready to copy the notes. She watched as Elphaba started reading and jotting down a few other things in her own notebook.

"Elphaba, I just wanted to say thank you for letting me partner with you. I know you usually don't and I've heard stories from those you've been forced to partner with. I just want you to know I will try really hard so you won't regret this."

Elphaba licked and pursed her lips while stilling her pens movement at the other girl's words. She hadn't really thought about how scared Jocalyn might feel about this partnership. She only thought about the possible inconveniences it might bring to her. Unfortunately, neither Galinda, nor her "How to be Popular" book had covered how to handle such a situation. She would just have to wing it.

"I'm sure I won't, Jocalyn. You've proven to be doing very well in this lab on your own. Who knows, maybe we'll learn from each other," Elphaba said, starting her notes again. "I'm sorry you've heard some lab horror stories from others but you seem more capable than some of the previous partners I've had. I enjoyed your last paper on your botany experiment." She risked a side glance over to Jocalyn's side of the table and saw a look of combined exuberance and determination on the girl's face. A small smile crossed Elphaba's own face guessing she had chosen the correct things to say. She felt even better when she realized not a word of it was false. Galinda's advice on focusing on being truthful but not just on the negative things seemed to be paying off.

With the end of class nearing the partners decided to hold off on starting the experiment until Friday. They started packing up the papers and notes knowing what each of them would have to do next time they met. Elphaba had actually enjoyed having someone to bounce some of her ideas off of and share some of the workload when she was more confident it would actually get done and done correctly. She looked up to see Jocalyn smiling at her.

"I think we're all set here, Elphaba. Did you want to go to grab some lunch or did you already have some plans? I know you've become kind of a hot topic lately," Jocalyn said as she shouldered her satchel again.

"Me, a hot topic, I'm not sure I know what you mean," Elphaba said, not moving from her stool.

"Well, I just mean you've become a bit of an overnight sensation. All the talk had previously been…well, not so great. But now it seems you have turned the socialite's world upside down," Jocalyn continued grinning. "I don't get much into the gossip chain myself but it's a bit of an achievement for any serious scholar if you don't mind me saying so."

Elphaba again wasn't sure on how to take this piece of information. She knew that she had started to change the minds of some of Galinda's friends but she would never consider that as world turning events.

"I'm sorry, Elphaba, I don't mean to embarrass you or speak out of turn. I guess I was just curious is all," the other girl said. The smile which had been there since Elphaba had seen her started to doubt itself.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm not so much embarrassed I guess. Just confused or unaware of the importance of my one evening of whim to Shiz's hierarchy," Elphaba said scrunching her nose while trying to convey her thoughts. "I mean, you go to these events too. I've seen you at the same tables as Galinda and the others. You are quite the scholar yourself, you and Cerav and some others. How am I different?"

At this Jocalyn's smile returned but became more of a smirk as she also raised her eyebrows at the green girl.

"Okay, okay. How am I different aside from the obvious," Elphaba corrected.

"We all serve our purpose in that group. Why don't you come to lunch with me and we can discuss it there? Again, that is if you don't already have plans? I just know I'm not going to last much longer without some nourishment."

Taking stock of her options, Elphaba gather her belongings and nodded.

The two girls made their way to the cafeteria. Picking up trays they went their separate ways to fill them up and then met up to pick a table off to the side of the crowded room.

While putting some spread on her bread round Elphaba looked up at Jocalyn expectantly.

"Wow, you get right to the point, don't you?" Jocalyn asked while putting a straw in her drink.

"I find it gets to the results the easiest, yes. I can let you enjoy your food a bit more though if you prefer. I sometimes forget my manners," Elphaba answered eating her bread.

"No, it's alright. It's just again, you're different. It's really intriguing," the other girl said as she began to eat her food.

Elphaba looked over to see if she was to take these comments as fault or as compliment. She watched the other girl eat really taking her in as she could without thoughts of her experiment going through her mind at the same time. Jocalyn was not really a girl who stood out in either an overly good or bad way. She kind of blended into the background. She had dark brown hair, a color she could compare to mahogany, that reached down the middle of her back when not pulled up and bangs that she kept swept to the left side of her face. Her hair was currently being held back in place by a dark blue headband. Her skin was fair but not as fair as Galinda's but might seem that way if only in contrast to her dark hair and almost almond shaped eyes which were a deep brown as well. Her eyes were a dark enough shade that you had to really look to see the difference between the iris and pupil. They were large though and seemed to take in everything around them when she looked up at Elphaba. Her round face was open, free of much expression so Elphaba didn't take offense to her comment.

"How's your meal?" Jocalyn asked when she noticed Elphaba looking at her.

"It's good, thank you. I enjoy that they have a lot of non-meat options to choose from. I was afraid I would have to eat salads every day or at most meals," Elphaba said continuing to eat.

"That's right; you don't eat meat, do you? I tried that for awhile, not so much as on your principles I would imagine but because I was trying a new nutrition trend. It didn't last much longer than a month though. I'm impressed you seem to have no troubles with it."

"To be honest, I've never really craved it but the principle of not eating things that use to breath and live is strong as well."

Elphaba saw a small hesitation from Jocalyn as she went to take a bite out of her sandwich which clearly had some form of meat on it. She cringed internally at her words.

"Not that I would force anyone to feel the same. I know my beliefs aren't of the popular nature here. But if one was curious I would discuss it with them," Elphaba said watching the girl put down her sandwich and pick up an apple instead. "Sorry, not exactly meal appropriate talk. Again, that whole manners thing sometimes slips me up."

"Well, you did have other things you wanted to discuss first. It's alright," Jocalyn said as she finished chewing her bite. "So, as I was saying earlier, we all have our place in that group and I'm sure the roles won't come as a shock to you. It is essentially preparing us for our roles in society outside of Shiz. Those nobles and royals will be the ones running things. Those with money but not nobility will own things. We scholars will be thinking, creating, building and inventing things. Those artsy folks will be creating and entertaining and so on and so on. I maintain my position simply because I know one day my research will need financial backing to go anywhere. Who better to back such research than say an old Shiz friend? And I'm not saying these things to be cruel or negative it is just how things are. Everyone in the group sees it and feels it. We've practically been groomed for this."

Elphaba can't deny she doesn't already know these things it is just odd for her to hear someone inside of the higher Shiz society vocalize her observations.

"It sounds like you all use each other. That you aren't even friends but more like business partners," Elphaba commented while taking a sip of cider.

"Well, we are friends but some may be friendlier than others. And there is something to that whole 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer'. But like I said, you've added a new dynamic to the group and I can't help but take notice. What will your role be Elphaba? You haven't really seemed dependant on anyone before, especially not the likes of our group. In fact, and not that I could blame you with some of the antics pulled on you, you seemed to dislike us."

Elphaba sat again choosing her words carefully. Again, all that her tablemate was saying was true. Elphaba knew Galinda had been the change but could she really come out and say that? She didn't know Jocalyn very well but she could already tell she was right in that this girl was intelligent but also observant.

She took a deep breath and said, "I was given an opportunity to see a different side of the group. In that opportunity, I think some saw a different side of me. Not that I'm led to believe that all is well and good with everyone now but I do know that I think there are more possibilities for it than there were previously."

Finishing her apple, Jocalyn watched Elphaba speak, seeing the thought put into each word. She nodded and put the apple down. "It is almost like an experiment in itself, no? I don't know if you've meant to be but you could be considered social scientist of sorts. I hope it goes well for you, Elphaba. I hate to eat and run on you but I should get going back to my room to grab my things for my afternoon sessions. I'll see you soon?" Jocalyn asked gathering her things and tray while standing.

Elphaba nodded and gave the girl a small smile. Left to her own thinking she couldn't help but finding herself with the same hope – which was things go well for her.


End file.
